Joined Worlds
by Sonic the Saiyan
Summary: Chaos, a mysterious and dangerous force, when handled incorrectly, can lead to dire consequences. When Chaos Control goes wrong, the dimensional wall between two worlds is shredded as they become one. While the Z-Fighters meet Team Sonic, Eggman recreates Nazo, who brings allies in the form of Frieza, Cell, and every other threat possible, and history, will never be the same.
1. Oncoming Storm

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Dragon Ball or Sonic the Hedgehog franchises.**

 **This is my first story on Fanfiction. This story will include elements from multiple sources, both canon and fan-made. Also, some events you know from the original series may not occur, and new ones may take their place. Please enjoy!**

 **Now, I must tell you, this story, starts off really rough. You may be turned away at first. I ask that you stick with it for a while, even if it seems bad at first (you don't have to) and wait until later on, as my writing style begins to improve. Thank you for giving it a chance, if you were so inclined to. I do plan to rewrite the early chapters eventually, to make the story more appealing to read, but until then, I apologize for my 'humble beginnings.'  
**

* * *

"You'd better surrender you pesky hedgehog, you are surrounded by an army of my elite robots! There is no way for you to escape! Mwahahahahah!"

"Yeah right Egghead" though Sonic. Earlier, he found Eggman attempting to rebuild his nightmare theme-park, Eggmanland. He immediately ran to find Tails and Knuckles, briefing them, and putting Team Sonic back together. He'd thought that this would be an easy enough raid, when he considered that Eggmanland was still under construction, each member of his team was holding onto a Chaos Emerald.

"I thought you said this would be a breeze, Sonic" Knuckles mumbled. "I came along for a quick smash-n-dash, not to be forced into a huddle while surrounded by badniks."

"Hey, I can't have every answer Knuckle-head, chill out" Sonic muttered back. "You can't just blame me for everything that goes wrong in-"

"This really isn't the time you two, we need to figure out a way to get out" Tails cut in. As usual, his brain was working overdrive to find a plan. "Arguing with each other isn't going to get us anywhere."

Sonic glanced over, sighed, and then said "You're right, as usual Tails. We need a way out of this. Hmmmm…"

Then an idea came to Tails. "Hey guys, we may have a way to win this fight yet." The others looked over at him expectantly. "Ok, here goes…" and began to whisper his plan.

* * *

 **Meanwhile, in another world…**

* * *

"Kaaaaaaaa… Meeeeeeee…"

The battle for the fate of the Earth was taking place high up in the atmosphere. Goku's new strength as the Super Saiyan God allowed him to more or less hold his own against the threat to his planet.

"Haaaaaaaa… Meeeeeeee…"

This battle was almost too quick for even his battle trained mind to keep up with. He knew that he couldn't keep up forever though. He needed to end this fight as quick as possible. But against the God of Destruction, was that even a possibility?

"HAAAAAAAAAA!" Goku screamed as he shot his godly Kamehameha wave at Beerus, at a point blank using his Instant Transmission to launch a surprise attack. He saw the God of Destruction become engulfed by his massive energy wave. He kept up the effort of continuous fire for as long as possible, but he knew that such a highly powered blast would drain him before too long.

"Heh, heh, heh," Goku panted as he lowered his arms. He faltered for a moment, then as he looked up, he saw the angry god still flying in the same place. "No, it, it's like I barely phased him. I put all my energy into-" but stopped, as he couldn't even muster the energy to speak anymore.

"Well, were those your limits, Super Saiyan God?" asked Beerus. This had easily been the most enjoyable fight he'd had in millennia, since times he could barely remember. But like all things, even this fight, must end in destruction. "I have been impressed with what you have shown thus far, however, I believe that it is time to end our little game."

Beerus began channeling his energy into a rapidly growing energy sphere, soon it was so large, it began to look like a miniature sun.

"No, a blast that powerful could destroy the Earth several times over!" Goku thought. But he was powerless to stop it. All he could do is watch as Beerus' attack sailed towards him, and the Earth behind him.

* * *

 **Back on Mobius…**

* * *

"NOW" Team Sonic shouted in unison. "DIVIDE AND CONQUER!" The three split up and launched their own assaults against the army surrounding them.

"SONIC WIND" Sonic shouted, as he shot a blade of wind that swept through the bots like a hot knife through butter. The entire row were sliced in half and sequentially exploded.

"RAAAUUUUGGHHH" Knuckles yelled as he busted his way through this portion of robots using his Maximum Heat Knuckles Attack, leaving a trail of scrap metal in his wake.

"HIYAH" Tails let loose as he delivered his combo of a repeated Tails tail swipe and tossing various bombs into the enemies surrounding him.

The suddenness of the attack left the robots unable to respond in time, and in a flash, all but a small handful of the army were reduced to pieces of scrap metal and various weapons and Egg Pawn heads.

"Uh-oh" Eggman voiced, "I've got to fall back." He said just loud enough for Sonic and his friends to hear. With that, he turned, and flew away in his Egg Mobile.

"Oh, you aren't getting away that easily Eggs for brains!" Sonic shot at Eggman, and with that, he grabbed his teammates and gave chase.

* * *

 **Back over on the Earth…**

* * *

"Thank you Lord Beerus" Goku said, letting the relief in his voice show. They had just landed on the surface of the planet, and Beerus sure had given them quite the scare before he only blasted the tip of a nearby stone spire. His heart was still pumping over it, but he supposed even gods had to have a sense of humor.

Beerus merely gave his thin cat-toothed grin, and disappeared in a flash along with his teacher Whis. In an instant, they had left, and the only sign they had ever been there were in the bruises on Goku's body (and in the top of that poor stone spire).

Later that night, the celebration of Bulma's party were drawing to a conclusion. It had been an interesting night. They were all euphoric in living to see another day, although of course, euphoria can show in many different ways. Goku's cheeks will have Bulma's hand-prints embedded in them for weeks to come!

For once, Goku wanted nothing but rest. Sure, he was anxious to train more. It was so exciting to know that there were beings out there, true deities, with such a vast amount of power, that they made the dimension tearing Majin Buu look like a playground bully. But his match with Beerus left him more exhausted that he had ever been in his life.

He arrived home, his nice place far away from the city, with his wife and two sons. He tucked Goten into bed, said goodnight to Gohan, and went to fall asleep, and he was coma-deep into his dreams before Chi-Chi even made it upstairs. He was passed into such a deep sleep, not even the universal fabric unravelling would wake him up. However, the one thing that would wake him up no matter what got him up.

"GOKUUUUU!" Chi-Chi yelled in his ear.

"WAAAUUUGGHH!" Goku yelled as he leaped 5 feet into the air, hit his head on the ceiling, and fell back into the bed, wide awake.

"Goku, what took you so long to wake up?" Chi-chi said. Her voice was raised, but rather than sounding angry like usual, she sounded, scared?

Not much scared his wife. "Chi-Chi, what's wrong?" He was all serious now. If something was scaring her, then something had to be seriously wrong.

"Goku, look outside, just-" she tried to finish, but her voice faltered as she tried to speak.

Goku walked over to the window, and as he looked outside, he wasn't sure what he felt. Whatever this was, he knew one thing. This, was not good. Because as he looked out onto the fields surrounding his home, the very air, reality itself, was being cut open.

* * *

 **So, what did you think of my first chapter? Many of you will recognize Goku's side of the story as the last third or so of Battle of the Gods. The scene on Sonic's end was a completely original scene, however. Action will begin to ramp up in the next chapters. The next chapter will explain what began to happen in Goku's world at the very end of this part. Remember, this is my first chapter of my first story, so read and review!**


	2. Trapped

**Welcome back to Chapter 2 of Joined Worlds. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and if you didn't, well, then maybe you will enjoy how I ramp things up this time. Anyways, back to where we left off…**

"Eggman, you aren't gonna get away that easily!"

Team Sonic was close on Eggman's tail, while he applied maximum speed to his Egg Mobile, trying to flee. But the only reason he hadn't been caught yet is because he had the advantage of flight. Sonic's speed allowed him to keep up, but lacked the reach he needed. And because the majority of his base hadn't been rebuilt yet, there were no structures for him to use for gaining height.

"Those little pests have no idea what they're in for" Eggman thought wickedly. While those fools were giving chase, they were running straight for his trap. He glanced up, looking at the structure he was flying for.

"The one thing that has been completely finished in the ruins of Eggmanland is my main base, which was good thinking on my part" he thought. "Once I lure those idiots inside, I'll reveal my secret weapon to them. I saw them coming, those Chaos Emeralds lit up my radar like a Christmas tree."

Eggman had been working on something himself for the past few months, and had devised the perfect plan to wipe Team Sonic out.

"Once they're inside, those emeralds they have on them will be as good as ours, and afterwards, well, let's just say that it will be a very chaotic end!"

 **Minutes later, out front of the Eggmanland Tower Base…**

Sonic and his friends watched as Eggman flew into one of the upper windows of his complex, disappearing out of sight. The hatch shut behind him, leaving no open roads into the base.

"Well isn't this just great?" Knuckles shot at Sonic. "You let him get away, Pin-cushion."

"Hey, don't blame me Mr. Blame Game" Sonic launched right back. "How did you expect me to jump a hundred feet into the air and bring Eggman down? If anything, you should've ran ahead and caught him. I may have been faster than him, but he was slower than you! You could've scaled the tower and locked him out!"

"Are you even listening to yourself, you self-righteous little-?"

"ENOUGH, YOU TWO ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY" yelled Tails. "CAN'T YOU BEAR TO GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER LONG ENOUGH TO FINISH ONE MISSION?!"

Now, both Sonic and Knuckles were silent, and staring at Tails open jawed. Never had the heard such a verbal assault come from the sweet-minded orange fox. And after the initial shock of all of that coming out of Tails' mouth, they heard the sense behind the words. They both felt ashamed of themselves and mumbled out a quick "sorry" to each other, then proceeded to take great interest in their shoes.

"Okay, now, we need to find a way into that base" Tails said as he shot a quick glare at the hedgehog and echidna.

"Well, I could always try using my shovel claws to get though the main door" Knuckles proposed."

"I could probably drill through the door as well with my Spin Dash" Sonic added.

"Both are good ideas. I'm going to add to it too. You guys try your digging and grinding on the wall, but first, I'll detonate an explosive charge on the door. That should weaken it if not blow it wide open." Tails delivered his plan to the others.

"All right, we aren't moving from this spot until we make our way inside!" cheered Sonic.

"YEAH!" shouted the other two in unison.

 **Back over on Earth…**

"This isn't good"

No sooner had the words left Goku's mouth, than did he realize how redundant they were. When is there ever a good scenario involving the fabric of reality tearing like some maniac slicing through a curtain with a knife?

Gohan rushed down beside his father to examine these rips in the universe. After a quick look, Gohan said "Well Dad, I do have just a little hunch on how this happened."

Goku turned towards his eldest son in hope. "That's awesome Gohan, what do you think is going on?"

Gohan closed his eyes and put on an almost meditative look on his face. Then, without turning his head, he answered, "Well, in the short theory, Buu."

"WHAAAAAT?" Goku shouted in surprise. "But Buu has been completely reformed, and besides, I would sense if Buu had gotten angry enough to do this."

Gohan opened his eyes and turned towards his father with a serious expression on his face. "Dad, I don't mean the current state of Buu. But from what you said…"

 _ **Flashback**_

Super Vegito hovered over the ocean, facing Super Buu, who had absorbed Gohan. Buu felt a severe hatred for this challenger, who had come out of nowhere and made him, the terror of the universe, look like some odd bystander in terms of power. He could feel anger boil up inside him, and he felt his power rise with it.

"GWAAAAAAAAAAAUUUGGGGHHHHHH!" he screamed. Super Buu's anger had pushed him over, and he began to scream with such ferocity, that the dimensional walls began to crack, split, and falter.

"Hrrgh, I can't let this go on" Vegito decided. With his mind made up, he launched himself at Buu, pushing with all of his might, until he got through the energy surrounding Buu, and struck him hard enough to knock him out of it.

Super Buu fell down into the ocean, and the splits in the air began to close, and had just finished closing when Buu popped his head up.

 _ **Flashback End**_ …

"Anyways, based on your account of that moment, it seems that the evil version of Buu attempted to destroy you by splitting dimensions. However, even though they sealed back up, it could've left the dimensional walls unstable, so if another event happened to affect them, they may collapse." Gohan finished his theory.

"AAUGGHH, this is terrible, isn't there anything we can do?" Goku asked in frustration.

"That's what I'm thinking about Dad, but unless we can find what's causing the split, there's not much we can do. And while this could be catastrophic, it's not as bad as you may think."

"Huh?" Goku wondered.

"When, sorry, _if_ the walls collapse, then it won't mean anything like the end of reality. More than likely. Most possibly what might happen is whatever wall is breaking down, whichever world is on the other side, our two worlds will likely merge together."

"Well then, we'd better hope that it's a good world on the other side." Said Goku.

"What I'm wondering, is what could be causing this disturbance? It's all so strange, but if only I knew the source…"

 **Back on Mobius** …

BOOM!

"*Cough, *cough, see guys, nothing a little bit of firepower can't break down." Tails wheezed out. The explosion had been a bit more than he had thought, so when it went off, he got the wind knocked out of him.

Sonic stepped into the now open doorway into the base. At first glance, nothing seemed wrong. As he walked further in, the other followed him. They were about 20 feet in when the heard a loud SLAM behind them. They looked back to discover the door they had blown open had just been replaced with a reinforced metal gate.

"Well, something tells me that we're not getting back out that way." Sonic said. This new door looked a lot heavier and more solid then the last door they had gone through, which Sonic looked back on as suspiciously flimsy.

"Come on guys, let's move on ahead, because we obviously can't go back." Tails said, leading the group down the hall.

After the first 5 minutes, they started encountering little scuffles with various guard robots, but they were dispatched of easily.

Eventually, after about half an hour, they reached a large door at the top of the tower. They pushed it open, and as it opened, they were met with a scene which they did not expect.

"Shadow?"

Before them, was Gerald Robotnik's greatest creation, the Ultimate Life Form, Shadow the Hedgehog. He didn't even look back towards them, but they knew he had heard them.

But the real surprise was lying in front of Shadow. Eggman was standing on a platform connected to a massive cannon-like machine at the far end of the room. From the angle they were at, they could see inside the barrel, and noticed 3 Chaos Emeralds inside.

"What's he planning?" Sonic wondered.

"Perfect" Eggman thought. "You all have fallen right into my trap!" he gloated. "Now watch this. CHAOS MAGNET ACTIVATE!"

Immediately, a pulse came from the machine Eggman was standing on, and less that a second later, a Chaos Emerald was flying towards it from Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, _and_ Shadow! All 4 emeralds locked themselves into the barrel of the cannon with the 3 others.

"Heh heh heh. Heh Heh Heh, HO HO HO HO!" Eggman reveled in his machine's success.

"Just what are you playing at Egghead?" Sonic challenged.

Eggman glanced down at him. "It's time I show you what happens to those who annoy me enough!" he shouted. And with that, he hit a button on the machine, which aimed itself at the group of 4 standing in front of Eggman.

"Now then, prepare to feel my wrath you meddlers. You will now see my full fury!"

"What's going on?" Tails asked in a meek voice.

"Tails, RUN!" Sonic yelled, and started to dash for the exit as well, only to find it had closed them off.

"No, I, it, it's over!" Sonic stuttered.

"Yes it is, Hedgehog. Now…" Eggman paused.

With a sudden motion, Eggman hammered a button on the machine.

"CHAOS CONTROL CANNON, FIRE!"

 **So here is the end of the second chapter. This one mainly focused on Team Sonic's chasing after Eggman, though we did flash over to Goku's side and learned a bit about the possible cause of the dimension rifts appearing on his side. Prepare yourself for the breakdown of the dimensions, and in the meantime, please review, as this is my first story, and feedback is greatly appreciated.**


	3. Aftermath

**Welcome back to the story Joined Worlds, and we will be picking up right were we left off last episode. It's time to see the repercussions for Eggman's actions.**

 **Note: This chapter contains references to SMBZ, made by Alvin Earthworm, which I have no ownership over.**

"CHAOS CONTROL CANNON, FIRE!"

Everyone but Shadow closed their eyes and braced themselves for impact. Shadow, of course, stared the cannon down as it charged massive amounts of Chaos energy. He and Tails were the only ones who could actually understand what this cannon could do. Sonic and Knuckles thought it sounded bad, but they had no idea.

"If I'm right, then Eggman has us beat. His Chaos Control Cannon, while powered with all of the Chaos Emeralds, can wipe us from existence." Tails thought. "At very least, this thing could send us to any point in time and space, and at worst, this thing will blast us apart, erasing even our atoms from existence, and possibly even deleting various points along their timeline."

Then, just as it was sure they were going down, something about the energy output of the cannon changed. Shadow was the first to notice the shift in the atmosphere. "Huh, the cannon should've fired by now" Shadow thought with surprise. He sensed that instead of firing, the Chaos energies were continuing to build up, and with how volatile Chaos energy is, he knew that the cannon would meltdown before too long.

"Hey!" Shadow barked to the others. "We don't have much time to talk. The machine is backfiring and building up energy. It's going to explode soon!"

"Rrgghh, curse you lot" said Eggman, hovering above them in his Egg Mobile. "My cannon may have malfunctioned, but don't worry, I'm going to leave you to enjoy it anyways. A little gift from me, to you!"

"EGGMAN!" Sonic shouted. He leapt up with all his might and delivered a serious kick, knocking his vehicle into his cannon. With a resounding CRASH he made contact with the cannon, cracking it. Less than a second later, a blinding white light leaked out of the machine, filling the entire room.

Sonic pulled Tails and Knuckles into a group hug. "I was glad to have friends as good as you two." As the light drew near, they closed their eyes, and waited for it to overtake them.

 **On Earth…**

"Wha-" Goku stumbled as the rift began to grow exponentially larger. Every second that went by, the more the Earth's energy fluctuated around them.

"Dad, the reaction is reaching its high point! We don't have any time lef-" Gohan was suddenly cut off as each tear split wide-open, sucking up their entire world.

The last thing Goku remembered before falling unconscious was seeing something odd, a humanoid covered in silvery grey fur and spines.

 **Unknown Location**

He could barely remember who he was. There was only one thing that he was sure of at the moment.

Everything, hurt.

Sonic slowly sat up, his entire body fighting the motions of getting up. His eyes slowly opened, and at first, he couldn't see anything but a dull, blur. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed a few things. One thing was that they seemed to still be in the ruins of the tower. However, the surrounding area appeared different than he remembered. Next, he noticed that Tails and Knuckles were collapsed beside him, but still alive, which was a relief.

Then something truly shocking met his eyes, near the ruins of the cannon Eggman had attempted to use, the Chaos Emeralds lay on the ground around it. But something was off, the Emeralds were off color, a bit more pale than usual. He got the energy to stand up, and walked over to them. As he crouched down to scoop up the emeralds, he saw something behind the broken cannon that chilled his blood.

7 pitch-black objects lay on the ground. Each one had the general shape of a Chaos Emerald, but were so dark, that they appeared as outlines, and nothing more. Black mist rolled off of the new gems like radiance would come off the old ones.

At that moment, it hit him. Somehow, the malfunctioning of Eggman's weapon had split the Chaos Emeralds into two halves, the negative energy, and the positive energy. He stepped down and picked up one of the colored emeralds, the red one, and as he lifted it, he felt that it was weaker than normal.

He looked over at his friends lying on the ground, and decided to try something. Focusing as best as he could in his current state, he linked himself to the Chaos Emeralds. The light half of the set lifted up and encircled him.

"I wonder if they still have enough power for this" Sonic wondered. The Emeralds began to rotate around sonic at high speeds. After a full minute of performing this ritual, he absorbed the energy of the Chaos Emeralds, and transformed into Super Sonic.

"Well, I'm glad this still works. But, I don't feel as much power as I have in the past when I took this form" Super Sonic said to himself.

Super Sonic walked over to Tails and Knuckles. Using his powers, he transferred energy to his friends, and after a moment, they began to stir.

Knuckles awoke first, being the more resilient of the two. "Ugh, my head. Hey, Sonic, how come you're in your Super State?"

"It's a story I prefer to brief you two on once Tails is up too." Super Sonic replied.

 **In another Unknown Location**

"Huuugghh, my head. Wh, where am I?" Goku wondered as he woke up. He looked at his surroundings, not noticing anything familiar. None of his family had made it there with them. He glanced around, noticing nothing familiar with his surroundings. He was in some sort of grassy plains area, with the sides of certain risings being made of checkered tan and brown stone.

Goku was having trouble moving, so he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Senzu Bean, and popped into his mouth. With only a few chews, he was feeling like a billion zeni again.

Once he was back in top form, be hovered into the air, and focused his efforts on locating energy signals. The only other higher power level he could sense was a long ways away, and even that one was fading fast.

"Maybe that's Gohan. It feels odd, but it's possible that the weird energy now surrounding the planet could be messing with his senses." Goku reasoned. He focused on that fading energy signal for a moment, then smiled. "All right, let's do this." He put his fingers to his forehead and vanished from the spot.

 **Ruins of Eggmanland Tower**

"So that's what happened. I'm very curios to study these Dark Emeralds." Tails expressed.

Sonic had reverted from his Super State a while back to conserve energy, although he felt quite a bit better after sitting for a while.

"I'm not so sure Tails, those Dark Emeralds, well, they don't feel right. I feel like we should put all of our efforts into re-forming them as Full Chaos Emeralds. These new 100% positive energy emeralds are weaker without the balance of negative energy" finished Sonic.

"Well, that is a bit of a downside, Sonic. You may be right. But the Dark Emeralds would be worth the study" replied Tails.

"You have no idea how right you are" said a new voice.

All of them turned towards the new voice, and saw Eggman himself standing beside the ruins of his former plan.

"I think that these Dark Emeralds will be the perfect power source for my next army" Eggman said.

"Fat chance that we're going to let you just take 'em, Eggy" Sonic retorted. "How do you expect to outrun me without your Egg Mobile?" After saying that, Sonic went straight for Eggman, but as he almost was there, something heavy, and hard smacked him back. As he looked up, he saw 3, no, just one Mecha Sonic standing in front of him.

"You, Mecha Sonic!" Sonic challenged. "I didn't think you'd be brave enough to come out of hiding after your last defeat."

"Ha, Ha, you think that a puny flesh and blood being like yourself can keep me down?"

"Heh, you don't seem to realize, I'm always learning new tricks." Sonic reached for a small pouch he kept tied to his waist. "Mario taught me to keep some easy to use power-ups hand" he said thinking back to his friend in another dimension. He grabbed 2 items out, one red and white spotted mushroom, and a small orange rose.

Sonic popped the mushroom into his mouth for energy recovery, then held the flower out in his hand.

"Oh, for me, you shouldn't have, Sonic." Mecha Sonic retorted with sarcasm.

"Well, Mecha, you know what they say. Every rose…" he absorbed to flower in a ball of fire, "has its thorns!"

And with that, Sonic burst into a broiling inferno. His newly glowing red fur radiated heat, and his eyes flashed golden. An aura of flames surrounded every inch of his body.

"You think that heat will be enough to stop me, you fool" Mecha Sonic asked.

"Well, it should be more than enough to beat you, but as an added precaution…"

The 7 light powered Chaos Emeralds surrounded Sonic. His aura turned into a golden fire, his spikes uplifted, and the heat radiating of his body intensified tenfold.

"Now then…" said the new form of Sonic, "meet my new combo transformation, GOLDEN FIRE SONIC!"

 **Sonic has ascended to a new form, a combination of his Fire Sonic form using the Fire Flower, a technique from SMBZ, and his classic Super Form acquired from the Chaos Emeralds. However, will this new form have enough power to defeat Mecha Sonic? And while those 2 are fighting, Dr. Eggman is getting away with the Dark Emeralds. Find out the outcome in the coming chapters. This is my first story, so please Read & Review. Tell me how you like this combination of various ideas, like the Golden Fire form, or the original ideas, like the Dark Emeralds**


	4. Fused Beatdown

**Welcome back to chapter 4 of joined worlds. For those of you wondering why I am updating so often, it is because of how excited I am to finally be on the site. The frequent updates will be wearing down here soon though, so don't get too used to it. Anyways, back to where we left off.**

BOOM!

Golden Fire Sonic was surprised when Mecha was able to counter his Gold Fireball with such a simple blast of energy. He then decided to go for another approach. Sonic launched himself into the air, making his aura flare with heat, and began to spin rapidly like a top. A rind of fire began to form around him, and the faster he spun, the larger the ring became, until it became a large vortex. Sonic quickly dashed out, twisted around, and launched the vortex at Mecha at high speed.

As it sped across the battlefield, it began to have a gravitational effect on its surroundings, preventing Mecha from effectively fleeing from the attack. The copy of the fastest thing alive curled up into spin dash position in an attempt to reduce any damage the vortex would do. Once his sensors sensed that the vortex had dispersed, he made to uncurl and go on the offensive. However, when he tried, he was unable to.

"Why, why am I stuck like this?" Mecha cursed.

"Heheh, looks like the circuits that help you think well malfunctioning, because if you had thought that move through, you might have considered that the high heat would soften your metal armor just enough to fuse you shut."

"RRRRAAAAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH!" Mecha Sonic yelled, and began to spin charge.

"What are you planning to do, charge me blindly? Even you aren't that stupid, Mecha, and that's saying something" Sonic antagonized.

Mecha Sonic then stopped spinning for a brief moment, then disappeared. An instant later, the real Sonic felt himself getting pummeled by a heavy metal ball. "Ugh, that's right. Mecha Sonic can use my light-speed attack!"

In the next brief moment he had before he was struck again, he activated Chaos Control to slow time so he could combat Mecha's stolen technique.

Even with Chaos Control, Light-Speed Attack isn't called that just because he wanted to make it sound awesome. The move travels at an extraordinary speed, and was just barely able to match the sudden bash attacks. Eventually, Mecha got in a blow, and once Sonic got hit, he lost his concentration, and time resumed at a normal pace.

Mecha Sonic wasn't one to waste an opportunity. His sensors had picked up Chaos manipulation, so he know that Sonic had been using Chaos Control, so to keep him from using it again, he kept up a relentless assault, never giving him a chance to slow time again.

Sonic felt his strength ebbing away bit by bit with each blow. He knew that the fight was over, and it was just a matter of time until he took enough damage to revert from his Golden Fire form. It wouldn't be much longer until he lost the resilience his transformation provided, and then, it would take seconds for Mecha Sonic to finish him off.

 **High above the fight…**

Goku re-materialized up in the air. As he looked down below him, all he saw was a dark wasteland scrapyard. It was duck, which added to the eeriness of it all. He looked around for the power source he sensed earlier. But he didn't even see any signs of life in the area.

He decided to explore, because his Instant-Transmission had never failed him. He knew that there was a powerful entity in the area, and he was determined to find it. He was about to descend to get a better look at the surface when he heard a large crashing sound to his right.

He decided to head over, so he harnessed a small amount of his new godly _ki_ to fly off to the area at top speed.

 **Back below…**

It was over.

Mecha Sonic had finally struck the blow that did it. He came in and crashed into Sonic so hard he reverted to his base for, and was sent flying into a pile of scrap metal, with a resounding CRASH that could probably be heard for miles around.

Here he was, lying helpless as a baby, wide open for the finishing blow. Things couldn't get any worse.

Rule #1: Never say, or even THINK, the words "can't get any worse."

Like some sort of giant gruesome metal egg, Mecha Sonic began to uncurl, and stand up, looking none the worse except for warped spines and slightly melted arms.

"H-h-h-how, I, I fused you shut." Sonic choked out.

"I used your transformation to my advantage, of course. Your heated aura wasn't as hot as one of your fire based attacks, but I could use it to soften the locks you made out of my own body." Mecha said, and the last part with spite. "You will pay for that insult however. You shall die very painfully, only after, you see the same happen to your friends!"

"Wha-, NO!" Sonic shouted, mustering all his strength to stand up.

Mecha Sonic pointed his arm cannon at Tails, prepping a small missile.

"Say good-bye to your friend, you pitiful hedgehog!" Mecha yelled in triumph

"NOOOOOO"

Then a new voice entered the fray..

"KAMEHAMEHAAAAAA!"

Mecha turned around only to be blasted by a massive energy wave.

A massive explosion clouded the area, making Mecha vanish within it. Once it cleared, however, he was still standing, creating an energy field.

"Wow, that's impressive, you only had a split second to react, yet you still guarded it" said the new challenger.

"Hrrrgh, I, I don't know who you are, *pant, but thank you, for saving, my friends" Sonic graciously thanked the mystery man, before he collapsed from exhaustion.

"You're welcome" he said, and then he turned back to Mecha.

 **Goku's POV**

"Wow, so that little guy must have been the power level I sensed earlier. I don't see any other options. I've seen a bit of this robot's power already, and there is no way he could've fought with that thing from what I sensed when I got here." Goku wondered what he might've done to keep up before. "Maybe he has transformations as well, or maybe he has special powers that let him fight well without a high power level."

"So, my next challenger, yet another bag of flesh" Mecha taunted.

"Heeheehee, this guy looks like he's really well built. Maybe this guy will be the strongest robot since Cell." Goku was getting fired up in his mind.

"Enough wait, my master ordered me to clear the remaining trash from the area. Now DIE!" shouted Mecha Sonic. And with that, he charged Goku.

"Hmm" Goku thought about the fight ahead as he got into a fighting stance.

Mecha Sonic went full speed ahead and went in for a heavy slug with full momentum behind it.

As he got near, Goku crossed his arms in a defensive pose to minimize the impact, but surprisingly, when the punch landed, it felt like it about broke his arms.

"YEEEOOUUCCHH, man, you've got a serious punch!" Goku complained after taking the punch.

"Then try my blasters if you don't like my strikes!" he yelled as he retreated and shot 2 Chaos energy bullets at Goku.

"Is this all you got?" Goku asked? Goku stretched out his arms and caught both energy blasts, but unlike normal energy, he found it scalding in contact with his skin, and had to drop them. "What was that? I've never felt anything like it." Goku said.

"Ah, so my new challenger doesn't enjoy Chaos energy. Too bad, there's more!"

"Chaos energy? Boy, that doesn't sound good." Goku contemplated.

"Stop muttering to yourself! Chaos, BARRAGE!"

A storm of energy blasts made of Chaos energies were fired out of the cannons Mecha turned his arms into.

Goku was more worried this time. This energy that the robot called 'chaos' was not good for him. He had never encountered such a volatile energy type in his life, and he did not like knowing that there was such a thing.

As the blasts were closing in, he used the Afterimage Strike technique to dodge all the energy bullets.

"I need to end this match fast! This robot sure is dangerous." Goku thought. He knew what he had to do.

Goku closed his eyes and focused. "HyyyyyyyaaaaAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH" And as he let loose his battle cry, his hair lifted and turned a golden blonde. A few moments later, his hair became more rigid, and bolts of lightning raced through the golden aura surrounding him. "Now, to take things to the very limit!" he screamed. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" and with an explosion of power, he transformed one last time. This time, his hair became grew a few feet, down to waist level. With a much gruffer voice, he said, "Behold, my ultimate fighting form."

Mecha Sonic was going to retort with something sarcastic or insulting, but the new SSJ3 Goku flew at him so fast and hit him so hard, his circuits got scrambled.

Mecha didn't stand a chance against the new strength SSJ3 Goku unleashed against him. He was getting pounded into a tin can.

"Ok, time to land the final blow" SSJ3 Goku thought.

He smashed his elbow into Mecha Sonic's torso, followed it up by kicking him down the way. Then…

Kaaaaaaaaa…

Meeeeeeee…

Haaaaaaaa…

Meeeeeeee…

"Here goes!" SSJ3 Goku thought.

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

This Kamehameha Wave was charged to maximum power, screaming through the air straight at Mecha. The Sonic clone was barely able to raise his head to see it coming before the wave hit, and he was blown to pieces.

Pieces of blue metal were scattered through the air, finally putting an end to, at least, this robotic Sonic clone. SSJ3 Goku settled down reverting to SSJ2, to base Super Saiyan, then down to his base form.

After powering down, he turned around and noticed his audience of 2 humanoid animals. He also remembered the one who had collapsed from his fight before he had even arrived.

"*Sigh, well, I guess it' time to meet the locals." Goku said, and walked over to introduce himself.

 **Well, this was the part everyone waits for in these crossover stories. The point where the 2 crossed over characters meet. Although Goku and Sonic haven't officially met, Sonic has thanked Goku for saving his friends already, and as soon as he wakes up, it will be time for a real introduction. See you in Chapter 5, and remember, read and review.**


	5. Only the Begginning

**Well, Chapter 5 is up now. I know that this is only my first story still, but I hope you guys are still enjoying it so far!**

"Whew, I had no idea that pure robots could be so powerful. I know of androids that can match that power, but I'm surprised their able to do so much with no organic matter in them."

Robot's, and other artificial foes were always an interesting match for Goku. He loved it because he was unable to sense their power level, which made for a fight where he had no idea what he was walking into.

However, this robot was surprisingly powerful, much more so than the Android series he had fought. Even though it was no match for his Super Saiyan 3 transformation, it was surprising how well it did against him before he transformed, considering his new godly _ki_ from his transformation into Super Saiyan God.

"Wow, maybe this new world will have more powerful enemies that I can face!" Goku thought, getting a giddy feeling at the thought of more awesome opponents. He loved nothing more than fighting strong opponents, always enjoying the challenge of them.

Then Goku remembered the reason he even fought the robot in the first place. He wasn't doing it for the challenge anymore, but to protect a small group of fighters. He looked over, and those 3 were in the same shape they were in before. The blue spiny one was still knocked out cold, while the other 2 sat near him, keeping an eye on their friend while watching the fight.

"Well, if I'm going to be a part of their world, then we might as well get acquainted. Maybe they can help me find my family and friends" Goku thought.

He began to walk over to the little band of 3 that he had found here. "And also, maybe, they can help me understand what the heck is going on here."

 **Over at Team Sonic** …

"Tails, is that dude who fought Mecha coming towards us?" Knuckles asked.

Knuckles may have courage, but he didn't want to have to fight this guy after what they had just watched him do.

"I think so Knuckles, let's just hope he's a friend. If not, well, we just saw him in action. I'm not even sure Sonic and Shadow together could win. Not without the Super Emeralds at least" Tails calculated.

"I'm not sure even reviving the Super Emeralds would help Tails. You saw that guy, he had a Super Form and top of a Super Form, on _another_ Super Form!" Knuckles said.

"Well, not like it matters much now, he's almost in front of us" Tails said. And indeed, in mere seconds, the mystery man was standing only a few paces in front of them.

He gave a friendly wave and said "Hi, nice to meet you, my name is Goku. What are your names?" he asked in a nonchalant way.

Something about his tone soothed Tails and Knuckles, making them feel slightly less tense.

"He seems friendly enough" Tails thought. They were still nervous, because when you dealing with someone so powerful, it's always best to show respect.

"H-h-h-hi Mr. Goku, my n-name is Tails" he managed to stutter out. He held his hand out towards Goku, who gladly grabbed it and shook it.

 **On Goku's end…**

"Man, I don't know why, but they're terrified" Goku wondered. The orange fox named Tails was actually shaking so hard, he heard it in his voice, and while he shook hands, it was like his hand was vibrating. "Those two must not have seen very many fights that intense before. They probably are worried about what side I'm on."

"Hey, no need to be so scared, I don't bite you know" he said in his normal happy friendly voice. Of course, after he said this, he remembered him and Kid Buu biting each other during their fight, but he decided that it wasn't the time for a joke like that.

After those two heard him, they still seemed a bit on edge, but relaxed a lot more. Goku got to meet them, learned their names were "Miles 'Tails' Prower" and "Knuckles the Echidna." After that, he remembered something.

Goku looked over his shoulder and saw their blue friend still lying on the ground a few feet away.

"Hey guys, just one sec here" he asked for, then walked over to the friend. He reached in his pocket, and felt he had 2 Senzu Beans left. He picked one out and kneeled down.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Tails asked wish a slight fear in his voice.

"Don't worry, I'm just helping him get back on his feet" he replied.

He stuck the bean in and made him chew it and swallow. Almost immediately, like magic, his cuts and scrapes began to close, his bruises faded, and his energy signal grew more stable. A few moments, his eyes shot open, and he sat up so fast, he and Goku hit heads.

"YEEEOOOWW!" he yelped as he fell right back down on his back.

"Ouch, hey, at least you weren't the one on the receiving end" Goku pointed out. This guy had a surprisingly hard head for being covered with so much fur!

After another moment, he sat back up, much more slowly this time, making sure not to try to crack the both of their skulls this time.

"Wha-, what's going on?" he asked Goku, still a little out of it.

"It's okay, I made sure that the robot that was attacking you and your friends before has been taken care of. Your friends are unharmed" Goku assured him. He gave him a minute to collect his bearings, then decided to strike up a conversation. "Hey, my name is Goku. I introduced myself to your two friends, Knuckles and Miles (I prefer Tails, Tails said in the background), mind if I learn your name?

"Well, you came out of nowhere, saved me and my friends from Mecha, all the while doing it while you never even met us, so yeah, the least I could do is give you my name." he said to Goku, standing up. Once he was up, he faced Goku, and said "My name is Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog."

 **At Capsule Corporation…**

"Come on you stupid computer, give me those test results already!" a blue-haired woman yelled at her screen for churning out results so slowly.

Bulma stood up and looked around in frustration. "I've got to learn what happened. I woke up this morning to an indescribable burst of, something, and ever since, everything's felt different. I've been running tests all morning, and I think I've almost got something, but if my computer would just move faster"-

BEEP, BEEP

Bulma looked back at her computer. TEST COMPLETE flashed across the screen. She stepped up to it as it churned out the results of her scans up on screen.

"No way…" she muttered.

"These results, it shouldn't technically even be possible. But I've run every test, crossed every result, and re-did every test several times, but it's still here."

Finding these results, well, this was a worst case scenario situation. And everyone needed to help out with this one.

She immediately grabbed her jacket and ran out the door, with only one thought on her mind.

"I need to find Vegeta!"

 **In Station Square**

His head pounded, his eyes were blinded by a neon white light, but his senses were returning.

"How did I get here, and where'd Dad go?"

Gohan found himself in an unfamiliar city, with thousands of people panicking and rushing around in terror, flooding the streets.

"This doesn't seem like something from our world" Gohan thought, as he ascended to get out of the way of the stampede happening below. Gohan looked around at the new, fear filled city. "This city looks like it is structured differently than the ones I'm used to, and I feel and unfamiliar energy in the air."

Then, out of nowhere, an aftershock rippled through the air, and a part of a building fell away, coming down on a group of citizens.

"No!" Gohan shouted, as he dashed over and stood right beneath the broken portion of the building, and caught it with only a small amount of trouble. With a grunt, he set it down next to him, saving the citizens from being turned into several dozen pancakes.

Just as he was about to take off, he heard a less than good sound, and turning around had him seeing a crack spreading around the base of the skyscraper. "Great, it couldn't just stop with that massive slab, not the entire thing has to go down?" Gohan thought. With an ominous CREEEAAAAAKKK, the building began to collapse down onto the street.

"What am I supposed to do?! That thing is way more than I can lift, and if it hits, there are going to be hundreds of casualties!" Gohan panicked. His only other option would be, no, he knew that wouldn't work either. If he blasted the building with a Kamehameha Wave, the shrapnel would do even more damage than the impact if he did nothing.

"I've got no choice, I've got to at least try!" Gohan said, and with that, he flew himself right into the building's path. As he hovered there, he unleashed his entire power, and powered up to the edge of his limits.

"Ok, this will be ALL, OR NOTHING!" Gohan shouted, following it up by bracing himself up against the building and flying as hard as he could against it.

For a moment, the building didn't slow its collapse. But then, slowly, and surely, it slowed its fall, and Gohan actually became able to push it back. He began to think he could single-handedly avoid this entire crisis.

However, another aftershock pulsed through the air, this one going right through Gohan. He braced himself, but there was no physical impact, like it had looked with the buildings, but rather, it felt like an ocean wave at the beach, made of energy. However, after the aftershock passed by, he felt his strength ebb away. He looked at himself and realized that he was no longer able to maintain his full potential state.

"Hrgh, no! That energy wave did something to me!" Gohan thought with terror. He realized that without being able to muster more power, he couldn't stop the collapse of the skyscraper.

"Damnit! I'M SORRY EVERYONE!" Gohan screamed. The building was seconds away from going into a free fall. He was just about to let go when…

"…Hmm?" Gohan realized that even though he didn't have the strength to lift the building, it was staying suspended in mid-air. And even odder, the entire building was lit up with a mysterious green light.

"How, I mean, what is going on?" Gohan wondered. Even as he hovered there, the building righted itself, and fixed itself back onto the base that had been left on the ground. Once it was back in place, its mysterious green glow vanished. Gohan twisted around, looking for any source to the enigma that had just happened. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something.

He turned towards it, but it was too far away to get a good look. It appeared to be a white, or maybe a very light grey, object, covered in the same mysterious green light as the building had been, flying off.

"Huh, I wonder what that could be." Gohan thought. He wanted to give chase to see what it was, but it was flying away quickly, and he was too exhausted from the effort to follow it.

"Well, at least I know one thing for sure" Gohan said. "And it is a good thing to know that this new world will supply us with allies."

Gohan looked around at the city, which had begun to calm down after the collapse had been averted. It may have looked and felt different that his world, but it was just the same. There were dangers here, and there were innocent people living in the middle of them.

"Well, even if this world has heroes already, I'll do my best to help the people out" Gohan promised. However, little did he know, the one who helped him earlier was not a part of either of their worlds…

 **And there is Chapter 5 of my story. We learn a bit about what shape the worlds are in after they joined, and it's not very good. Many of you probably know who helped Gohan out, but I am not going to come out and say it yet, nor will I say how that hero got there. Look forward to Chapter 6, and please, Read & Review.**


	6. Revelations

**High up in the air…**

After saving thousands of people from the building collapse, he had decided to fly off. He wasn't a part of this world, and had no need to stay, but he couldn't let all those lives end. It reminded him all too much of the hellish world he came from.

A hedgehog with a silver-gray coat was floating up in the clouds, alone with his thoughts.

"I don't know how I got here, or how I even remember this world. But whatever the case, I know I have to make sure what period I'm in, and if he's still around to help."

With that, he poured more of his power into his flight, and took off, searching for one he had long forgotten. However, he needed to find him, the being he formerly he knew as 'The Iblis Trigger.'

 **Among the scrap metal that was left of Eggmanland…**

"Come on, it's got to be around here somewhere…"

Dr. Eggman was sifting through the rubble remaining of his glorious amusement park base, looking for something.

"Curse that lot!" Eggman thought angrily. He had made his escape with his new Dark Emeralds, but he was grounded. The explosion had shredded his Egg-Mobile into a useless state, so he didn't even bother to use it. He had a tough time making his way away. Running while carrying a double armful of large, cold gems wasn't easy.

"I hope they got what was coming to them. Mecha Sonic should've made short work of their group, but they've managed to get out of tough scrapes before" Eggman thought. "I have a feeling that they're responsible for the backfiring of my cannon. Shadow must have been behind, holding the Chaos energy building up! Curse them!" he yelled, covering his mouth afterwards. He didn't want to chance those pesky 'heroes' finding him out here.

He shifted some more some more scrap metal out of his way. "It should be right around"- he stopped as a heavy metal trapdoor came into view. "Ah, here we are" he said.

He lifted the hefty door up out of the ground, revealing a ladder into a deep underground bunker.

"Ho ho ho, now this was fine work! To be unscathed by the explosion of my Chaos Control Cannon, it has been built perfectly!" he praised himself on his handiwork. The ladder went down a long ways, and he had to make a few trips since he couldn't carry all of his emeralds down at once. Once he finished his trip, he closed his trapdoor behind him, and for safe measure, camouflaged and magnetized it.

"Those fools will never find me in here. Even if they decide to come looking for me should they survive, they will expect me to have ditched this place. They will not find me so close at hand."

He flipped the light switch, revealing the massive laboratory he had hidden in the bunker. His first step was to set the Dark Emeralds up in his containment chamber, to mask any Chaos energy signals from escaping, and letting that pesky Shadow find his operation.

"Hrrgh, Shadow, that traitor." Eggman flashed back to all the times Shadow pretended to be on his team, only to betray him in the end. During the invasion of the Black Arms, during his takeover using his mechanized Time Eater. Even during that time in-

"Wait, how do I remember that?" Eggman wondered. "That plan, that entire mission, it didn't only completely fail, it was-"

Eggman pondered how it was possible he had that memory. "How can I remember something that was erased from history?"

 **In Sonic's House…**

"WHAT?!" everyone around the table yelled.

"What's wrong? Was it something I said?" Goku asked.

Knuckles stood up from his chair. "Gee, I don't know, maybe it's that you just dropped the bombshell THAT YOUR FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION!" he shouted.

"I agree, even though it's coming from this knucklehead, that is a pretty tough pill to swallow" Sonic said.

Knuckles glanced over at Sonic. "Say one more thing, you hyperactive pin cushion, I swear…"

"Okay guys, that's enough" Tails said to the two of them. He took a quick glare at the two of them.

Sonic and Knuckles remembered Tails' blow-up from earlier, and cringed away from his gaze.

Goku observed this, and then said, "Wow, Tails must have you guys on a leash around here."

Knuckles merely looked at the floor, while Sonic said something about "not afraid" and "my house," but nothing really audible.

"Well anyways, now that we've got that out on the table, I've got something to ask you guys" Goku said to the group. At this, they all looked at him and waited.

"Well, I may have let you guys know that I'm from another world. But what I don't know is how I got here. Do you have any idea on how I got here?" he asked them.

Sonic and Tails glanced at each other with an unreadable expression. Sonic gave a small nod to Tails, at which he turned over to Goku.

"Well Goku, I think we've got a pretty good read on the situation. Here's how it began…"

 **Deep in the wilderness …**

With a bright flash of light, Shadow the Hedgehog materialized above the grassy ground on the edge of a forest.

"Huff, huff" Shadow panted on all fours. He could barely believe that his plan had worked, considering it had been made on the fly, and was completely new to him.

 _ **Flashback**_

"Tails, RUN!" Sonic shouted. He turned and ran for the exit, but it was blocked off.

Shadow stared down the cannon, thinking hard. "What could this be? Eggman is too smart to use the Chaos Emeralds to power a simple laser cannon. Something else must be at work here…"

"No, I, it, it's over!" Sonic stuttered in defeat. Shadow looked back at him, and noticed the defeated look on his face.

"Cursing won't help anything you fool" Shadow thought. "We need a miracle to get out of this one. If only I knew what it was…" but his thoughts were cut off when he heard Eggman say "Yes it is, hedgehog. Now…"

Shadow turned to face Eggman, who had aimed his weapon at him and the others. "Well, let's see what he has planned."

"CHAOS CONTROL CANNON, FIRE!" Eggman shouted.

"A Chaos Control Cannon?!" Shadow gasped. He knew the theory Eggman was using. He was going to use a focused Chaos Control beam, which could have a number of effects. Chaos Energy was erratic and random, or simply, chaotic. Chaos Control's main power was to warp space and time around the user. But he knew, that when all 7 Emeralds are used for it, he knew that it had the power to breach dimensions.

All of these thoughts were flashing through his head, but interrupted when his finely tuned Chaos senses picked up an odd signal from the cannon.

Shadow noticed that a dangerous amount of Chaos energy was being formed, and reacting badly.

"This isn't good" he thought. He turned to the others.

"Hey, we don't have much time to talk! The machine has backfired, and is building up energy. This thing is going to explode any moment!"

Then he watched as Eggman hovered above all of them in his Egg-Mobile. "Rrgghh, curse you lot! My cannon may have malfunctioned, but don't worry, I'll leave you here to enjoy it anyways. A little gift from me to you!"

"EGGMAN!" he heard Sonic shout, then watched as he leapt high into the air and delivered a kick that knocked the Egg-Mobile into the machine. Once that had happened, the machine cracked open, and all the pent-up Chaos energy flooded out.

"Wait, that's it!" Shadow thought. He stood his ground, facing the oncoming energy storm. He couldn't even blink, he needed to watch it the entire time. The instant it touched him, in his mind, he shouted "CHAOS CONTROL!"

 _ **Flashback end**_

"Somehow, that plan worked. I can hardly believe it!" Shadow thought. The instant the buildup had reached him, he had harnessed it to boost him out of there. Still, he had barely survived the jump. The explosion didn't just affect the physical plane, it had shredded through the fabric of space as well. It also knocked him off course as well. He had meant to warp directly to his team's base so he could meet up with Rouge and Omega, and fill them in. But instead, he was out here in the wilderness, without a Chaos Emerald to warp with, and judging by the sky, several hours later in the day.

"Quit complaining" he scolded himself. "I'm the Ultimate Life Form, I don't complain because I escaped in a less than ideal fashion."

He stood up and began to skate off. He didn't know where he was, but he knew that he needed to find someplace where he could get his bearings. But he had only been on the move for a few minutes when he heard a voice above and behind him.

"Well, I wasn't sure I would be able to find you, and was even less sure of finding anyone else around here."

Shadow turned around in a flash, prepping his signature Chaos Sphere in his hand. He was ready to fire right off the bat, but froze at the sight in front of him.

At the very first glance, he didn't recognize who was in front of him, but had the feeling that he was strangely familiar.

But after a brief moment, a flood of memories entered his mind. He was no stranger to recovering memories after amnesia, but this was different. The re-introduction of these memories brought him to his knees for a moment. When he got back up, he had no trouble identifying who was in front of him.

"Silver?"

 **Back at Sonic's…**

"And that's what we know about this whole situation" Tails finished. "We didn't know the full extent of the situation until you told us where you were from. But this was our best guess."

Goku listened the entire time, only understanding about half the terms that came out of Tails' mouth, but he got the gist of the story.

"This sounds pretty serious (I think), but it doesn't sound too far off from what my son predicted" he said.

"You have a son Goku?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, I have a whole family, but in the whole 'collapse of the universal walls,' we were separated. I only hope my wife is with one of my sons. She's pretty powerful, but I'm not sure what she could do in this situation."

"Well, I hope all of your friends and family are okay too, Goku, but we need to figure out our next move for now." Knuckles cut in.

Tails thought for a minute, then said, "My first move would be to set up a base where we can keep a lookout on everything." He turned to Goku and asked, "Is there anyone from your world we have to worry about being here?"

"Most of my dangerous rivals are either on our side now, or on the other side, if you catch my drift. Someone is always popping up it seems, though" Goku answered.

"Well, in that case, it should also be hidden, to keep us from being attacked as easily. Any ideas anyone?"

Surprisingly, Sonic was the first to put in an idea. "Well, I can think of one place that might suit our needs."

Tails was shocked that Sonic had an idea so quickly. "Where is it Sonic?" he asked.

Sonic turned to Tails, and said, "I think you know Tails. We spent most of our childhood there anyways."

Tails gasped. "Sonic, you don't mean-"

Sonic nodded. "Tails, let's see how our friends in Knothole are doing."

 **Goku and Team Sonic swapped information today, both sides learning something about their current predicament. However, other mysteries were raised, the biggest one being wondered about by Shadow. How is Silver back? And how are him and Eggman remembering the events that took place in Soleanna? Read & Review, and see you next time on Joined Worlds.**


	7. Making Preparations

**Hey everyone, I'm back here with the seventh chapter of Joined Worlds. As I've said before, this is my first story, so comments are encouraged for my improvement. Anyways, that's all I have to say. On with the story!**

 **Sonic's front lawn…**

"Okay Sonic, its a few miles down the road to my lab. Once we're there, we can all hop into the Tornado to go off to Knothole. But do we even remember how to get there?" Tails asked.

"Wow, I hadn't thought about that Tails. Um, gee, its been so long since we've been there, I'm not sure" Sonic replied. "Is there anyone else around who might know?"

"I don't think so, Sonic. Amy, Cream, Vector, Big, Rouge, and all the others never even knew about Knothole. Man, I didn't know we were so reclusive with our past" Tails chuckled.

"You guys haven't explained yet, what exactly is this Knothole you keep mentioning?" Knuckles asked.

"Well, long story short, Eggman used to have a pretty good hold on a part of the world" Sonic began. "He had turned a beautiful city into a dark, industrial wasteland. All who opposed him, or whose presence disrupted him, were turned into robotic slaves with a machine he stole from my Uncle Chuck."

As he was talking about this, Sonic's mind went back all those years ago, to the long days, and the stealthy missions. The dark skies above Eggman's, "No, he was Robotnik back then" Sonic thought. He remembered the dark skies above Robotnik's 'Robotropolis.' Back then, he had thought he was the coolest thing around, invincible. Now, he realized how his immaturity had been a boon for him back then, allowing him to remain calm during his missions.

"Anyways, me, and a group of others set up a base in The Great Forest, which we called Knothole. We began trying to overthrow Eggman from Knothole, doing all we could to sabotage his plans. We called ourselves the Freedom Fighters, attempting to free everyone trapped in Robotropolis."

"We won eventually, and after that, I left to track down Eggman, because you guys know the countless times he's tried to take over the world since then. I wanted to make sure no one ever had to suffer through what he did to us, ever again" Sonic finished.

Tails had remained silent throughout Sonic's story, recalling the dark days spent in rebellion. Nowadays, he was more mature, and more capable. But back then, he may have been gifted, but living that life at such a young age, it had changed him. No kid should have to live through that.

Knuckles began to have a whole new respect for Sonic as he heard the story, awed by how he had handled everything that had happened to him in his early life. He looked back on long days guarding the Master Emerald as a picnic. It may have been lonely, and long, but hearing how the other two had their childhood ripped from them, not only did it give Knuckles a reason to lighten up on Sonic, but it filled him with a new rage towards Eggman.

"Wow, you guys sure have been through a bit huh?" Goku said. Goku himself had been protecting people from a young age, but his experience sounded quite different from the dark world Sonic described to them.

Sonic cleared the fog from his mind, and looked up at the others, putting on his classic, confident grin. "Anyways, if Knothole is still standing, we may be able to use it as our base of operations to figure everything out. And if we're lucky, we can still find a few of our friends hanging around Mobotropolis to lend us a hand" Sonic continued. Then he had an idea. He turned to Tails. "Buddy, that's it. Mobotropolis."

Tails was confused by this. "What do you mean, 'that's it,' Sonic?"

"Well, think about it. There are hundreds of forests around Mobius that could be the great forest. But if we look for Mobotropolis…" Sonic said.

"Great idea Sonic!" Tails exclaimed. "Mobotropolis is a huge city, much easier to find than The Great Forest. From there, it wouldn't take too long to find our way to Knothole!"

"Well, now we have a plan, so the next step is to put it into effect" Knuckles said.

"Hey guys, shouldn't we get going then? If this lab is a few miles away, we're going to want to get moving. I may be able to fly quickly, but not carrying all of us. It may be slow going" Goku said.

At this, Sonic chuckled rather loudly. "Huh?" Goku said.

"Sorry, you don't know how it sounds when someone tells me that it's going to be slow going" Sonic said. When Sonic said this, Tails and Knuckles grinned as well.

"Is there some inside joke I'm not a part of?" Goku asked.

"Heh heh, let's just say, my name isn't a coincidence" Sonic said. With that, he walked out onto the road, both members of his team standing at either side of him. "Ok guys, let's link arms" he said. Each of them clasped onto one of Sonic's arms.

"Hey Goku, try to keep up!" Sonic called over.

And with that, Sonic took off down the road, going several times fast than Olympic Athletes while barely putting any effort into it, dragging his two friends behind him.

Goku could barely believe what he had just seen. He wasn't even flying, yet his speed was tied with his own flight.

Then he snapped out of it. "I'm gonna lose them if I don't get moving" he thought. And with that, he took off at full speed after them,

 **Inside Capsule Corps' Gravity Training Chamber…**

"Huh, huh, huh" panted the man inside a room where gravity was 500x stronger that earth's average.

Vegeta was doing his best to train himself up. Kakarot may have ascended to the level of a god, but he wasn't going to give up his dream of conquering him.

"Heh, Kakarot, you must be feeling pretty high and mighty right now. But the Prince will reclaim his throne, someday" he said, only half believing it. He knew deep down he would never suppress him, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try. He was in denial, not oblivious to the power gap.

Suddenly a voice crackled to life on the intercom. "Vegeta, there you are. I need you our here now!" the voice said.

"Wha-" Vegeta stumbled, also getting hit by the training bot. He looked over to the wall, where the screen revealed his wife Bulma looking down at him.

"What do you want woman?" he spat at her. "This had better be good for her to have interrupted my training for" he added in his head.

"Just come out here Vegeta, we've got an emergency out here in the 'real world'" she said, and then hung up.

Vegeta glared at the spot on the wall where his wife's image had appeared. "Well, let's go see what has her acting even odder than usual" he thought.

"What is it?" he asked forcefully.

"Listen here Vegeta, you can act all proud and foolish as you wish, but here this" she said as she slapped her test results down on the table.

Vegeta picked up a few of the papers on the table, but couldn't make heads or tails of them. "What's this?" he asked.

"Listen Vegeta, because I don't want to have to explain this twice."

Bulma began to explain what she had found out through her tests.

"First off, I don't know if you noticed what went on this morning, but somehow, the barrier between two dimensions was weakened. Later this morning, the barriers failed completely, and they combined" she said.

"What?" Vegeta asked.

"I'm not done yet, don't interrupt" she commanded.

"Pfft" Vegeta said, but he didn't interrupt anymore.

"Anyways, I ran tests for the last few hours to determine what happened, and the full extent of the damage done. The results I found were, well unique."

"I ran these tests several times to make sure of the results, and there's no mistake now. The two worlds have merged."

"What do you mean, 'merged'?" he asked.

Bulma sighed. "That's what I was getting to, Vegeta. Take a look at these" she said as she took two papers out of the pile. Both appeared to be overhead images of large areas. One picture showed West City, and a large amount of land surrounding the city.

"This was a picture of the area from 2 weeks ago" she explained. "And this one is another picture, same frame of area, but from today."

Vegeta took a look at the picture, and was immediately shocked. "This is impossible, your instruments must me malfunctioning" he said.

"I'm telling you Vegeta, I double, triple, quadruple, and pen tuple checked everything. This, is, REAL!" she said, putting force behind the last word.

Vegeta looked down at the picture. The first picture showed West City, and the surrounding, empty area for 100 miles. The most recent picture, showed West City as well.

But the surrounding area, was no longer as barren. A mere 30 miles from them, a massive forest spanned from there, almost to the edge of the paper. Then, at the corner of the image, on the other side of the forest, an entirely new city had popped up.

"Vegeta, do you understand how serious the situation is now?" Bulma asked Vegeta. "Because now I have a job for you."

Vegeta jerked his head up to look at her. "What is it?"

Bulma sighed as she got ready to ask, because she knew Vegeta hated help. But they needed it now more than ever.

"Vegeta, gather everyone. ALL of the Z-Fighters. Even-" Bulma paused as she prepared for this next part. "Even Goku."

 **Out in the wilderness…**

Shadow stood there, confronting someone who he shouldn't remember, who shouldn't exist anymore. But he couldn't just stay surprised. He stood up and looked him full in the face.

"Silver, how are you still here?" he asked.

Silver gave him a serious look before answering with, "Look, I don't pretend to understand it myself, so no need to sound so accusatory."

"Fine, then at least try to explain how you're even back in existence"

Silver looked straight at him. "For you information, I was never actually erased. A new timeline may have been made, but my world could not be lost so easily. After our fight with Solaris, I was returned to the world that Iblis had turned into one massive Hell."

"You and Sonic were then transferred to a world where Solaris had never been a threat in. All your memories of the other timeline had been erased. However, my timeline persisted, and as it was still intact, I was sent back to it."

"Well, I can accept that as the truth, maybe" Shadow said. "But what I can't understand is how you are back here, and how just seeing you somehow reminded us of our fight against Solaris."

"Like I said, I don't pretend to understand how I came back, or anything that entails. All I want is to go back to my world."

This shocked Shadow. "Why would you want to go back to that inferno city? You said yourself that it was 'a massive Hell'."

"That may be, but I'm not a part of this world Shadow" Silver replied, then turned away from Shadow. "I don't belong here, and I shouldn't stay."

Shadow gave Silver a look that he had never made before. Empathy. "Listen Silver, I know as well as anyone the feeling of not belonging to a world. But even if you feel that way, there's always a way to fit in."

Silver turned back to Shadow. "Listen Shadow, I appreciate the pep talk, and it must have been hard to do, as the 'perfect weapon,' or whatever your title is, but when I came here, I set a goal. I have another reason for going back to my world. You wouldn't understand…" he said, his voice trailing off.

Shadow planted his feet in the ground, and responded with "Try me."

"Never mind Shadow. The only thing you could help me with is finding Sonic. Do you know where he is?"

"Please tell me you're joking Silver" Shadow said. At this point, he wasn't even sure Sonic was alive or in this dimension anymore. "I can try, but first things first, I need a source of Chaos energy to get around with."

"Thanks Shadow, that'll be our first move."

 **At Tails' Workshop…**

"Aw man, I barely got warmed up on that jog" Sonic complained. "I wonder where Goku ended up though."

"Right, here" Goku huffed as he landed in front of them. "Geez, I guess you weren't kidding when you said your name wasn't a coincidence."

Sonic had ran at a nice fast pace, about as fast as a racecar, forcing Goku to fly as fast as he could to keep up.

"Well, not to brag, but people often call me 'The Fastest Thing Alive'" Sonic bragged.

"Yeah, I can see why. I've also got a pretty keen eye here Sonic, and something tells me you weren't going nearly as fast as you could've gone" Goku predicted.

"Heh, well, let's just say, trust your keen eye there" Sonic responded smugly. He was very proud of his speed, to say the least.

"Ok guys, it's all set" Tails called from the other room.

The three of them walked into Tails' hanger room, and found him stuffing a few blueprints into a shoulder bag.

"Hey guys, I'm just grabbing a few things to help us out. Some plans for inventions I've had, some supplies, and a few other random things" Tails said.

"Well, let's get set up guys. Goku, do you think you can keep up with a plane?" Sonic asked.

"Well, I can fly pretty fast, but I guess I won't know for sure until I see what kind of speed it has."

"Okay guys, that's everything. Hope in you two" Tails said, already in the pilot's seat. Knuckles had climbed in behind him.

"Okay, let's do this guys!" Sonic cheered, proceeding to hop onto the wings of the plane.

"Initiating start-up" Tails said, pushing a button on his dashboard. At this, the mini-jets on the back of the Tornado fired up, and the plane began to move down the runway.

Sonic looked behind him to see Goku bent over fixing his boots. "Hey, you're going to get left behind if you don't get moving Goku!" Sonic called back.

"Oh, sorry! Here I come!" Goku shouted. He sprinted across the ground, then jumped into the air, flying after the plane.

"Ok, I've installed an electronic map system into the Tornado, so it'll be easier to find our way to Mobotropolis. You ready for this guys?" Tails called out to the others.

"YEAH!" everyone shouted.

"Then let's do this!" Tails cried as they flew off into the sky. "Let's find Knothole!"

 **And there you have it. Team Sonic and Goku have made their move to find a base in Knothole, but if Goku goes to a hidden base deep in a forest, how will Vegeta be able to round Goku up with the rest of the Z-Fighters? Also, how is Silver back in their world? How are those 2 to find Sonic taking refuge with Goku? Although everyone is close to getting a foothold in this situation, how is everything going to work out if everyone stays separate? Find out more answers (and more questions) to be given in the next chapter!**


	8. Next Moves

**Welcome back to Chapter 8 of Joined Worlds. Last chapter, things began to move along, with the group taking off to find Knothole. I know if you're following the story, that you're ready for this part by now. So without further ado, on with the story!**

 **Up in the skies…**

"Aaaaaaahhh" Sonic sighed. "This is the life. Fresh air, the wind on my face, together with my buddies. It's great."

"Don't forget Sonic, we aren't up here to feel the wind on our faces" Knuckles said. "We're searching for something, so don't forget to keep looking."

"Hey, I am looking, but just because I'm working, doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself while I do it" Sonic responded.

"Fair point, (I guess)" Knuckles breathed, but he still wanted to go a little easier on Sonic after hearing about his early life.

Knuckles looked down at the landscape spreading out beneath them, keeping an eye out for any unfamiliar cities. But he saw nothing down below besides rivers and grass.

Goku turned towards the Tornado and flew near. "Hey guys, do we have any idea where we're going to look for this place?"

"Well, for the most part, we're just going to look through areas we haven't been to in a while. We really don't remember where Mobotropolis was located" Sonic said.

"Well, do you have a general direction that you're flying in?" Goku asked. "I can fly quite a bit faster than this, and I should be able to search ahead."

"Great idea Goku" Tails praised. "That's an excellent plan. Go ahead and search over in that direction" he said, gesturing to his right.

"Sure thing. How will we meet back up?" he asked.

"Here, catch!" Tails said, and tossed a radio to Goku. "Use that to contact us when you've searched for a while in that direction."

"Will do. Ok, see you guys later" Goku said, then took off.

"Ok, according to my electronic map system, there should be a city coming up soon. If we're lucky, it'll be Mobotropolis" Tails said.

Suddenly, a signal flashed through Knuckles' mind. He then gasped, and said "Tails, wait, we can't go there yet."

"Huh, why not Knuckles?" Tails asked.

"I just got a distress call from the Master Emerald! We need to go to Angel Island now!" he exclaimed. "We have no time to waste!"

"Knuckles, we've been flying for hours, it's gonna be a while before we can get back" Tails said.

"Not necessarily, Tails" Sonic kneeled down to say. "You keep flying on, Tails. Me and Knuckles can do this."

"Ok Sonic, I'm going to trust you on this" Tails said.

"Yeah, me too. I know your fast, but we've got to go hundreds of miles over mountains, rivers, and the like. How are we going to get back in time?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic flashed a grin and said "Simple."

With that, Sonic closed his eyes and concentrated. After a brief moment, the Chaos Emeralds appeared surrounding him.

"You still have the Chaos Emeralds Sonic?" Knuckles said in awe.

"Yeah, the positive half of them anyways. My Super Form may be about half as strong now, but it still has my speed" Sonic said.

With that, Sonic absorbed the energy of the Chaos Emeralds, transforming into Super Sonic. He then stretched his hand out and transferred energy into Knuckles, transforming him into Super Knuckles.

"All right, Knuckles. Hold on" Sonic said.

"Yeah, don't worry Sonic, I know how fast you can go."

"We aren't flying there Knuckles, we're just going to use Chaos Control" Sonic explained.

"What, then why did we transform?" Knuckles asked.

"Because" Sonic paused. "I'm expecting a fight once we get there."

"I didn't think of that. Good call then, with the Super Transformations."

"All right, CHAOS CONTROL!" Sonic yelled.

There was a blinding flash of light surrounding the Super duo, and in an instant, they were gone.

 **Angel Island…**

With a bright flash of light, the golden hedgehog and the glowing pink echidna appeared on the mysterious floating island.

"So, where is the Master Emerald?" Super Sonic asked, looking around.

"Over there at the Emerald Shrine Sonic" Super Knuckles responded, pointing at it.

Super Sonic glanced over at the object Super Knuckles mentioned. In a clearing on the island, a large stone platform stood there. In the center of the pedestal was a large green gem, larger that Super Sonic himself. Around the large Emerald, stood 7 stone spires.

"Well, where is whatever made the Master Emerald send out its distress signal?" Super Sonic asked, looking around for a possible source.

"I don't know, but the Master Emerald rarely uses the link with me on its end unless it's truly in trouble" Super Knuckles said.

"Hmmmm" Super Sonic thought. "What could there be here to cause a reaction like that?"

Then, out of nowhere, a sudden, dark, chill overtook him.

"Knuckles, do you feel that?"

"Yeah, I've never sensed anything like it" Super Knuckles replied. "Wait, over there!"

Knuckles took off towards the shrine, where…

"What the-" Super Sonic said looking over towards the Emerald Shrine. Around the shrine, 7 black objects had appeared.

"No, it can't be…" he said before taking off after Super Knuckles.

"Sonic, are those-" Super Knuckles began to ask, before he was cut off.

"Yeah, I've got no doubt in my mind, those objects up on the spires, they're the Dark Emeralds."

 **At Kame House…**

"Yamcha, did you feel that?"

"Yeah Krillin, it was weird. It was like the entire Earth's energy just mutated. It's strange, this new energy is masking my ability to sense others."

Yamcha and Krillin stood outside the Kame House on the beach, attempting to sense the outside world. However, an odd energy had permeated the atmosphere, limiting their energy senses.

"I can't tell anything going on outside of this island" Yamcha cursed. "Maybe we could head inside, and see what's on. The TV stations tend to miss everything, but we may get a glimpse of what's going on out there."

"Fair enough, it's not like we can do anything else here" Krillin replied. They had just turned to go inside, however, when they felt something touch down behind them.

"Where do you think you're going?" a familiar gruff voice asked.

"Huh" Yamcha asked. He turned around and saw none other than Vegeta standing behind them.

"V-vegeta, what are you doing here?" Krillin asked.

"Please, surely even you have noticed the odd happenings that have been going on. Bulma told me to round up the Z-Fighters, so you two are coming with me" Vegeta said.

"Well, I guess we don't really have a choice" Krillin muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Vegeta accused.

"Nothing, nothing at all!" Krillin lied.

"Then get moving, I don't have all day!" he shouted before taking off.

"Geez, you would think he would've gotten at least a little but lighter after all this time on Earth. Guess not" Yamcha said.

"We should at least tell Master Roshi where we're going before we go" Krillin said.

"Well yeah, but let's be brief about it. We don't need Vegeta to come back, blazing his Final Flash on us."

Krillin shivered. "Yeah, that would be bad. We really don't want that. I'll be right back."

 **In the sky…**

"Once I get those idiots back to Capsule Corp, that will be everyone except for Kakarot and his sons. Then I can be done being used as an errand boy."

Vegeta was waiting a few hundred feet away up from the island. He was getting impatient for the two down on the island.

"HEY, HURRY IT UP DOWN THERE, OR I'M COMING TO GET YOU!" he shouted down at the island. It was almost funny how quickly they came scurrying afterwards.

"Finally, now we can get going. Now don't fall behind, otherwise I will destroy you" he said to the others, half joking.

At that, the three of them took off across the sky, heading back to West City.

 **Back on Angel Island…**

"But, what, how are the Dark Emeralds here, on Angel Island?"

"I don't know Knuckles," Super Sonic said, "but I know it's not good."

"HOHOHOHOHO, you don't know how right you are, hedgehog!" a new voice said.

"That sounded like-" Super Sonic looked up, and saw a floating monitor displaying Eggman's image.

"Well, I should've known that you wouldn't stay down for long, Egghead. I just wish you were here in person so I could kick your butt in person."

"EGGMAN, what are you doing to my Master Emerald!?" Super Knuckles demanded.

Eggman looked down at Super Knuckles with amusement. "Well, if you are _so_ anxious to find out, then I will just have to speed the process up for you!"

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm not going to just take this lying down!" Super Knuckles yelled. With that, he launched himself at the nearest Dark Emerald. However, as soon as he got close, there was a small energy burst, like a condensed explosion of black electricity, which threw Super Knuckles back.

"Aargh, what the heck is this?"

"HOHOHOHO, you cannot stop this. The reaction is almost complete!" Eggman said.

"What reaction?" Super Sonic asked with suspicion.

"THIS reaction!" Eggman yelled, as an energy storm began brewing.

The Dark Emeralds began radiating energy up into the sky. The clouds became dark, the air became thick, and the shrine became shrouded in a dark light.

"I don't like the looks of this" Super Sonic said.

"NO, Eggman, are you crazy?" Super Knuckles asked.

"Wait, Knuckles, do you know what's going on?" Super Sonic replied.

"I think so, but it's crazy! You can't do this Eggman. Doing it to the Chaos Emeralds was one thing, but doing it to the Master Emerald-"

"Wait, so you're telling me that Eggman is splitting the Mas-"

But before he could finish, there was a massive explosion of energy, making their surroundings disappear into the pitch black storm being generated. And then, in one massive surge of energy that almost blew them off of Angel Island, the dark energy dispersed.

"Ugh, that was intense" Super Sonic said. He looked around, and Super Knuckles was still standing beside him. But something was wrong. He was staring up at the Master Emerald Shrine with fear. An icy cold hand gripped Super Sonic's stomach. He too glanced over towards the shrine.

"There was no way it could've worked, it's impossible, it can't-" Super Sonic thought as he turned.

But it was only wishful thinking.

The Master Emerald was still in its place on the pedestal. However, above the Emerald Shrine, hovered the seven Dark Emeralds, and in there center…

A massive, dim gem floated in the center of the ring of Dark Emeralds, one that easily dwarfed them.

"H-h-h-h-he split the Master Emerald!" Super Knuckles stuttered.

Looking at the negative part of the Master Emerald filled Super Sonic with a form of dread. If the Master Emerald was a reservoir of infinite power, then Eggman had created an object of infinite evil energy!

"You, you…" Super Knuckles said.

"HOHOHOHO, it looks like we've got broken record here" Eggman mocked.

This was the last straw for Super Knuckles. "You, you, YOU BASTARD!" he screamed, and launched himself at Eggman's monitor, and swung at it so hard it was the equivalent to a meteor hitting it. Next, he flew for the set of negative emeralds.

But before he could even get close, a portal opened up above the Emeralds, and all 8 were sucked up inside.

"NO, dangit!" Super Knuckles cursed. At this, he landed on the ground and reverted to his base form.

Super Sonic landed on the ground as well, but he maintained his Super Form, rather than revert.

"I failed to protect the Master Emerald. I'm an embarrassment to my ancestors" Knuckles lamented.

"Don't worry Knuckles, I'm sure that we'll be able put the Master Emerald halves back together someday" Super Sonic said. "In the meantime, I have one thing you can do that would help our current situation."

"What is it Sonic?"

"You still have control over the remaining half of the Emerald, right?"

"Yes, why are you asking?"

"This idea may work" Super Sonic thought. He reverted to his base form, and the Chaos Emeralds rematerialized around him. He levitated them up onto the seven spires surrounding the shrine. "Are you catching onto my plan yet Knuckles?"

Knuckles gasped as he understood was Sonic was asking. "Sonic, that's a great idea. But I'm not sure I can pull it off. The Master Emerald's power is halved."

"But so have the Chaos Emerald's powers" Sonic reasoned.

"Fair enough, Sonic, I'll try."

Knuckles approached the Master Emerald on the shrine. I linked his mind with the inner energies of his Emerald. He held his hands out to begin channeling the energy. A thin bolt of Chaos energy linked each Chaos Emerald to the Master Emerald, and each Emerald began to glow pure white.

Then he began chanting. _"_ _The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart."_ At this point, each individual Emerald began to radiate a large amount of power, almost tolling off of them like a fine mist. _"The heart is the controller. The controller serves to unify the chaos. I call upon the power of you, the Master Emerald. Return the Chaos Emeralds to their full power!"_

The bolt of energy between the Master and Chaos Emeralds thickened, the amount of energy each Emerald taking on becoming astounding. Then, the entire shrine became coated in a white light, a blinding brilliance. The silhouette of each Chaos Emerald began to grow, increasing in size, not stopping until each was almost the size of the Master Emerald. With an even brighter flash of light, rainbow energy escaped the dome of white in a massive explosion.

Then it all cleared. The air crackled with Chaos energy, leaving the atmosphere feeling as if it would explode at any moment. A massive energy permeated the shrine more than anywhere else.

Up at the Emerald Shrine, Knuckles had lowered his hands from the Master Emerald, and started looking up at the spires the other Emeralds were resting on.

Each Chaos Emerald had swelled from the size of a softball to about ¾'s the size of the Master Emerald. Each one radiated much more power than they ever had before, and almost seemed to crackle with their new energies.

"It worked, this is amazing!" Sonic cheered.

"Heh, yeah, I was expecting the Master Emerald to be unable to have enough strength left to complete the ritual, but it looks like it worked" Knuckles said.

"Well, I'd say Eggman is in serious trouble now. He may have his Dark Emeralds, but we've got something he doesn't."

Sonic looked up at the shrine, where the massive Emeralds sat. Eggman has a great reservoir of negative energy, but the one thing he didn't have…

"We've got the Super Emeralds."

 **And that is the end of Chapter 8. Sonic and his friends began to look for Knothole, but things were quickly sidetracked. Eggman may have gained a huge lead with his stealing manifestation of the negative energies in the Master Emerald. However, Team Sonic gained a huge advantage when they were able to transform the Chaos Emeralds into their most powerful form, as Super Emeralds. Discover how Team Sonic will use these to their advantage in the next chapter! Until next time, cya.**


	9. Taking Action

**Last chapter ended off with both sides gaining something of great value. Dr. Eggman may have done the same thing to the Master Emerald that happened to the Chaos Emeralds. But in a stroke of genius, Sonic decided to use his rare access to both classes of Emeralds to reforge the Super Emeralds. Time to see how they're going to use them…**

 **On the ground near the Tornado…**

"Goku, are you there? I repeat, Goku, are you there?"

A voice crackled to life over the radio. "Yeah, I'm here Tails. What's going on?"

Tails sighed in relief. "Get back here, I've found it."

"Wow, that quickly, it's only been a few hours since I've left" Goku said in surprise.

Tails had landed The Tornado in the plains outside of the town, about 2 minutes' walk from the front gates. He had already checked out a little bit of the town, but sure enough, it was Mobotropolis.

"Well, I found it all right. Once you and the others get here, we'll head out for The Great Forest together."

"Wait, what do you mean, 'when the others get there'?" Goku asked.

"There was an emergency they went back for, long story. Hopefully they'll be back soon" Tails explained.

"Well, this'll just take a second to get there. Let's do this" Goku said.

Goku's radio fell silent, and Tails looked into the sky for him. He said it would just take a second, so Tails thought Goku might be able to fly faster than he let on.

Then Goku's voice came back over the radio. "Darn, no use. Tails, do you have any way of powering up?" he asked.

"What do you mean by powering up?" Tails responded.

"You know, like focusing your energy to help you out in a fight. I'm trying a trick I have called Instant Transmission, but I need a power to lock onto in order to use it. And since our worlds have collided, it has been much tougher to sense things. I feel like the energies of out two worlds have mixed, and it's clogged my senses."

"Well, without Chaos Emeralds, I have no way to power up" Tails broke the bad news. "But if your senses are clogged up, then how are you going to sense me event then?"

"My ability to sense energy is only a bit muddled up. I can sense nearby powers, or powerful ones. That's about all I can do for now" Goku explained. Then Goku felt something. Speaking of which Tails, I sense a very powerful energy moving towards where we branched off. I've never sensed anything like it, and depending on what path you took, it could be heading right for you."

"What?" Tails said. He started looking around in fear.

"Don't worry Tails. If this power level is coming for you, I can lock onto it to get over to you."

But before Goku even finished talking, Tails saw a bright light flying through the sky. "Goku, that may be a good idea, because I think I can see it!" he yelled.

"Right, give me just a moment to do this" Goku said.

At that moment, the bright light touched down by Tails. It was very tough to make out what it was, because it was difficult to look at. But as his eyes adjusted, he could began to make out a familiar shape.

"Is, is that you, Sonic?" Tails asked.

He heard laughter coming from the light. "Sorry, let me hit the dimmer" he said, his voice sounding like there were several of him speaking at once.

His bright aura faded mostly, leaving Sonic just standing there, but he was in a form he had not assumed in years.

Sonic's form was much slimmer than normal, more sleek. His quills were raised at a much steeper angle. And his fur, his fur was constantly flashing through pink, green, blue, and white. He had bolts of energy flashing through the same colors he was zipping through his aura.

"Sonic, how were you even able to transform like this again?" Tails wondered. He didn't know how he did it, but he had raised himself back to the level of Hyper Sonic.

Knuckles chose that moment to climb off of Hyper Sonic's back, where he collapsed to the ground, green-faced, wheezing out "too fast, too fast."

Just after that, Goku materialized in front of the group, as a Super Saiyan. He looked ready to fight when he appeared, but as he took in the scene, he started to get a more confused look. "Sonic, is that you?"

"Heh heh heh, I guess you've never seen someone near this level" Hyper Sonic said.

"Well, I actually have seen people this strong, and stronger. But I had no idea that you had this kind of power Sonic" SSJ Goku said. After he had finished, he let himself drop to base form, no longer needing to fight.

"Aw man, I was hoping I had set some sort of record for you" Hyper Sonic said, dropping through his Super Form, down into his base as well.

He then turned to Tails. "So, this is Mobotropolis nowadays, huh?" he asked.

Tails nodded. "Yeah, although it's not as cheery as I expected. They're happy all right, but not quite as happy as they were after Eggman's defeat. Also, I asked around. No one has seen Sally, Rotor, Antoine, or any of the others for a while."

"How long?" Sonic asked.

"Eh, for about 2 years from what I could find out."

"Wow, no one's seen any of the old Freedom Fighters in that long?"

"Yeah. They all seemed to disappear. Looks like we aren't getting much help with our base, but we can at least see if Knothole is still standing" Tails said.

"Yeah, lets head on over."

"By the way, Sonic, how did you get that new form? I thought you could only use a Super Form with the Chaos Emeralds" Goku said.

"Yeah, but while me and Knuckles were on Angel Island, we got a bit of an upgrade" Sonic said, focusing and making the Super Emeralds appear around him. "However, I'm not going to be using it that much. Tails, Knuckles, each of you take one."

"Why would we do that Sonic?" Knuckles asked.

"Because each Super Emerald has the strength of 7 Chaos Emeralds, which means if we all carry one on us at all times, we can transform into our Super Forms when needed" Sonic explained.

"Wow Sonic, you're on fire today with the good ideas" Knuckles praised. He stepped forward and took the green Super Emerald. Tails then stepped forward and took the orange one.

"All right guys, let's go search the Great Forest" Tails said.

"Yeah, let's see if this trip was worth it" Knuckles said. With that, he and Tails grabbed Sonic, and Goku got ready to take off.

Sonic nodded directly ahead of him. "That way to the forest, Tails?" he asked.

"Yeah Sonic" he replied.

"All right. Everyone, let's move out!" Sonic said, following it up with his classic high speed to take off for the forest.

 **Capsule Corporation…**

"Wow, so the situation's that serious, huh?"

Vegeta, Bulma, Krillin, Yamcha, Piccolo, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Trunks had all gathered in Bulma's living room, and were sitting down to discuss the current crisis.

"So, you've explained the entire situation to us, and gathered us all here. What is your plan?" Piccolo asked.

"I was getting to that. Anyways, if I'm given enough time, I could realistically build a machine to separate the two worlds from each other again. But there are a few pieces missing from the puzzle here."

"One, this planet now has twice the surface area, and much more undiscovered land. We also don't know what this new world entails. We need everyone to help protect this new world from dangers."

"Next, while I can possibly craft a machine like the one I've been talking about, chances are I won't be able to fix it unless I figure out exactly what the reaction was that caused the worlds to merge in the first place. I need help finding this out."

"Next, we know next to nothing about this new world we merged with. We're gonna need to find out if this world has any intelligent life, and if there is, we need ambassadors."

"And finally, since _Vegeta_ failed to complete this" she said, shooting a side glare at Vegeta, "we are going to need your help finding Goku's family. All four of them are missing, and we need to make sure that they stay alive."

"Now, that's what we need. Are we clear on this?" Bulma finished her very long speech.

Everyone merely stared at her for a minute. Everyone except for Vegeta and Piccolo was having quite a bit of trouble taking it all in.

After a minute, Krillin finally breathed out, and was the first to respond. "I think I understand Bulma. Man, we really have a full plate to deal with here, huh?" he said.

Krillin's attempt at a joke rippled through the group, lightening the mood. One by one, each of the others began to get the concept Bulma was talking about.

"All right, you guys know what to do. Help out in any way you can!" Bulma said.

And at that, a unanimous "YES!" rang through the room.

 **Inside The Great Forest…**

Team Sonic and Goku had all split up once they had reached The Great Forest so that they could cover more ground. Sonic, for once, had to taking things slow so that he didn't miss anything. He remembered the main path into Knothole was really hard to find if you didn't know where it was.

"Man, I sure hope that the old base is still standing after all this time. I wonder if my hut is still standing there" he thought.

Sonic kept looking high and low for any sign that might lead him to his childhood home.

Well, the one he had after Eggman had stolen his original one.

He was still a bit upset that he didn't get to go and see his old city. He wanted to see if maybe his Uncle Chuck was still around, or maybe get a few chili dogs from that neat stand he used to go to.

"But we are on a mission, and we don't have time for detours right now" he scolded himself. Then he got a shock. "Man coming back here, I'm remembering how immature I was back then. Now I'm actually out here, putting my _thoughts_ into place!" he thought. "Sally would be shocked to see how I act nowadays" he chuckled.

Suddenly he felt his ear twitch. He turned towards his right and looked into the bushes. He peered into the leaves, but still couldn't see anything.

"Must've been the wind" he thought. "I thought it might've been my instincts trying to warn me about something.

As he took his next step, he felt the ground beneath his feet shift.

"What the-" he was cut off when all of a sudden a solid metal crate rose up around him.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" he shouted. He started rocking around before he heard a firm voice call in to him "Quiet, trespasser. You're coming with me for interrogation."

"All right, if that's the way he wants to play it, fine by me. Let me introduce him to Super Sonic!" he thought. He began to get ready for his transformation, but with a jolt, he realized the cage was too tight for him to get into the proper position for it.

"I'm totally helpless in here!" he realized with dread. He tried shifting as much as he could, but realized it was hopeless.

"Well, I guess I have nothing else to do but ride this out" he thought as he felt himself bumping down the road.

 _ **Later…**_

Sonic had dozed off inside of his small prison. It was uncomfortable sleeping upright inside there, but he figured he would need all the rest he could get if he was going to make an escape. However, he had a very rude awakening when he felt his box tip over onto its side.

"Ow, what the heck out there" he complained. Of course, he was met with a "quit complaining" from his kidnappers. Then he felt a heave on the box as the flipped it back up, the wrong way!

"Um, hello out there, the blood is rushing to my head" he said, shot down with a "deal with it."

Shortly after, he felt himself come to a stop. He then heard a small conversation going on a little bit away from him. He caught the words "trespasser" a few times in the conversation. "Great, it seems like I've come to the end of the line" he thought. "Just like I wanted, to be tossed into prison while I'm standing on my hands in a box" he thought sarcastically.

A minute later, he heard 2 pairs of footsteps, one leaving, and one approaching. Then he heard a voice.

"So, you decided to trespass here, on our land. What sort of business do you have here, you trespasser?" a harsh female voice interrogated him.

Sonic grunted from the effort of keeping his handstand before responding. "Why should I tell you? I was in the forest for reasons of my own, and that's that."

He felt his interrogator shake his cage. You'd better answer, prisoner, because we have very unpleasant ways of dealing with our enemies. How do we know you aren't a spy?"

While his cage was being shook, he felt a screw hit him on the back of the head. That's when he had an idea. "If this thing is dropping screws just from being shook, then one good blow ought to knock it clear out" he thought. But he only had one shot to do this. He needed to take care of the current threat before he could think about escaping.

"You know, I don't think I'm gonna talk. Why don't you just go back to being the world's worst interrogator?" he asked, intentionally provoking his opponent.

"Why you…" he felt his cage being shook again.

"NOW!" he shouted in his head. He used his arms to spring straight up, striking the floor straight out, and then he followed up by flip-kicking it down at the interrogator. He heard the muffled crunch that meant it had hit its mark.

He had just landed and was about to make a break for it when his opponent threw the metal sheet off and stood up to face him, getting into a fighting stance. But once they faced each other they both froze.

Sonic and his opponent stared at each other for a long while, before either of them could speak. And when they did, they both spoke at the same time.

"Sonic?"

"Sally?"

 **End of chapter. I know a lot of you may hate me for the way I ended this chapter, but I bet not many of you saw this coming. And every story needs a cliffhanger. But anyways, please tell me how much you enjoyed this chapter, and review it please. I will see you next chapter!**


	10. Recovery

**Tails…**

He had been combing through these woods for a long time, but was having no luck with finding anything.

"I've been searching for hours, and still no sign of Knothole" Tails thought. He thought that it would be easy enough to find his way there because he had lived there for so long, but his surroundings seemed completely alien to him.

He didn't worry too much about losing the others, because they had made a plan to go super and fly up out of the forest at dusk, so it would be easy to meet up. But he couldn't shake a feeling of fear that something would go wrong…

 **Knuckles…**

Knuckles was getting fed up with all this green, which he found ironic considering the many years he spent staring at his Master Emerald day in and day out.

"Come on, I'm supposed to be a master treasure hunter, yet I'm not finding a hide or a hair of any base out here" he complained. He checked every bush, climbed any tree with a suspicious branch, done everything he could, yet there wasn't a trace of anything in here.

"If I can't find it, then it's probably just a pile of mulch by now" he thought, ready to give up hope on finding it. Then he felt, no, he sensed someone behind him.

He turned around, ready to engage, but was relieved when he saw who it was.

 **Goku…**

"Hey Knuckles, how's it going for you?" Goku asked.

Goku had been using his razor vision to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He then found himself bumping into none other than the red echidna.

"Well, not too great. This stupid forest probably doesn't even have base in it anymore" he said.

"Hey, if Sonic and Tails say that it's here, then I believe them" Goku said.

"Yeah, maybe, still not sure it's still standing" Knuckles said.

"Well, we're gonna need to split up to cover more ground. Good luck Knuckles" he said.

"Same to you, Goku."

Goku jogged off into the woods.

 **Sonic…**

The atmosphere was tense, neither one of them knowing what to do.

Here he had been, captured, sore, and ready to make his escape. But when he got out, he found himself facing off with none other than-

"Sally?"

It seemed impossible that he had just found his best childhood friend, and she had him bound up and being interrogated. He had no idea what to do next, or what would happen next.

He heard footsteps thumping outside. He looked around for the first time, and realized he was in a wooded, one room house, with an open door. Then, that door was blocked off.

But some of those who entered froze at the sight in front of them. Sonic himself recognized a few of the faces that appeared. Rotor, Antoine, and Bunny were all there. He also saw a few people who he didn't recognize from the original group. One of them in particular ran forward and pointed a weird device at him, and said "Get on the ground, trespasser."

Sally turned around, yanked the device out of his hands, and commanded him to "Stand down."

That person turned to Sally and said "This is the one I caught trespassing in our woods. He's loose, and you want me to _stand down?_ " he asked.

"Yes, I do, Roger, because you may not have recognized him, but this 'trespasser' is none other than Sonic the Hedgehog" Sally said.

Roger gasped. "Not _the_ Sonic the Hedgehog, the best of the old Freedom Fighter agents, who bested Robotnik almost singlehandedly?" he asked in awe.

"Well, not singlehandedly, but yeah, that Sonic" Sally said. She turned to the rest of the group and told them to leave.

She then turned back to Sonic. "So, you finally decide to come visit, after all these years" she chastised.

"Heh heh, well, sorry, I kinda forgot my way back" Sonic said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, whatever the case, it's good to see you again" Sally said, holding her arms out.

Sonic stepped forward and embraced Sally. They held each other for a few moments before separating.

"So what finally made you want to pay a visit your friends in Knothole?" Sally asked.

"Well, I'm not sure if you've noticed it, but a little while back, there was an explosion, one that broke down the walls between our world and another" Sonic began to explain. Then he remembered. "Sally, you don't have any other of those patrols out there, do you?" he asked.

"Well, there are always a few of us keeping watch. Why?" Sally answered.

"Well, I didn't come looking for you guys alone, I came with a few friends" he said. "And if your patrols didn't recognize me, then they probably won't recognize Tails."

"Wait, Tails is with you too?" Sally asked. "I haven't seen him since he left either. Who are the other two?"

"One of them is a red echidna named Knuckles. He has large gloves with spiked fists. The other one is named Goku. He looks like a human, but with black spiky hair, and wearing orange fighting clothes" Sonic gave their descriptions.

"Okay, let me radio these descriptions to the others" she said as she pulled out her radio. She sent the message out to the others, then turned back to Sonic. "So, how did you find your way back to Knothole?"

"Long story short, we flew out to find Mobotropolis, and headed for The Great Forest to search from there" he explained. "Speaking of which, no one in Mobotropolis has seen anyone here in a while. Why haven't you guys moved back over?"

"Long story…" Sally began.

 **A familiar ocean town…**

"Mommy, can we go home yet?"

"Now now, Goten, I've told you before, we don't have any way away to get home" a mother scolded her child.

Goten and Chi-Chi were walking along the light grey stone path alongside one of the many canals cutting through the town they were stuck in.

"Maybe we could've gotten a boat out, but the people here don't accept zeni for some reason."

"Why can't we just fly home Mommy?" Goten asked.

Chi-Chi sighed. "Goten, it's because we don't know where we are, or what way is home. And the last thing we need is you getting tired and dropping us in the middle of the ocean."

"Awwww" Goten whined. "I want to go home!"

"Goten, that's enough!" Chi-Chi said forcibly. Surprisingly, Goten calmed down. "There we go, maybe I can think now" she thought.

She looked all around, looking for something to help. A help wanted sign, a little raft, anything that could help them get off of the island.

They had been trapped on this island town for the last few days. Luckily people there were friendly, and they had food, but the only useful thing she had was her son.

"Boy, I hope we can find a way off of Soleanna soon."

 **On Kami's Lookout…**

"So Dende, do you have any idea where any of them are?"

Piccolo and Krillin had both flown to Kami's Lookout to ask The Guardian of the Earth if he knew where any of Goku's family members were.

"Well guys, it's tough to say right now. All of them are in areas that belong to the other world we joined with" Dende answered. "I think that I can sense one of them, but it's a shaky connection."

"Well, where do you sense them? Any lead helps us" Krillin said.

"Hmm, well, from what I can sense, um" Dende searched. Then a signal flashed through his mind as the one he was tracking passed into an area belonging to his Earth. "There we go! He's at the island where they hosted the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament. You'd better hurry though, he's on the move."

"Great, thank you Dende!"Piccolo praised.

"Just make sure it's the right island. I sense that the ocean around that area is no hosting a lot of islands from the other world" Dende warned.

"Thanks for the heads-up Dende, we'll be careful" Krillin replied.

At that, he and Piccolo took off for the island that Dende told them to.

 **Above the World Tournament's Island…**

"Come on, I felt them somewhere around here" Gohan said, floating in the air.

He looked all around for any signs of the energy he was tracking, which just happened to be…

"Come on Goten, you're somewhere around here, I felt your energy not too long ago, so where are you?" he asked himself. He hated how his energy sensing skills were all mucked up ever since the walls broke down, because it made it so much harder to find anyone.

"There must be a way to overcome this. Maybe my senses will adjust eventually. But I really need to find my brother and mother before they get hurt" he thought. "For once in my life, I understand the use of scouters" he laughed.

Then he felt a small spark of energy, a few miles away. He could barely feel it, but it felt familiar.

"Goten!" he exclaimed, and then took off after the signal.

However, a mere three minutes later, Piccolo and Krillin showed up at the island Gohan had just left. They looked around, but came up with no sign he had been there.

"I guess Dende's mark was off" Krillin said. "I guess that it's back to the drawing board."

"No, Dende is never wrong. I can sense some residual energy, so we just missed whoever was here" Piccolo corrected. "Give me a second here, Krillin."

Piccolo twisted around in the air, sensing the surrounding area. He then felt minor movement off to the south-east.

"There, that way, I can sense something flying quickly. Let's go Krillin" Piccolo said, and he and Krillin took off after the one they were tracking.

 **At Seaside Hill…**

"So, you tracked the source of Chaos energy here Shadow?"

Silver and Shadow had both traveled a long way tracking the energy Shadow felt. They needed to find a source of Chaos energy so that Shadow would be able to move the group of them around using Chaos Control.

"Yes, I'm sure Silver. My senses tell me that it is just around here, buried in the sand" Shadow answered.

He trusted in his ability to sense Chaos energies, but he couldn't imagine a source being out here. All seven Chaos Emeralds had been in the cannon, and he wasn't sure that one of them could be thrown this far away.

His senses pinged again, this time, practically under his feet. "Here" he said. He kneeled down and dug into the sand. He had made quite the sizable hole in the ground before he caught a glint.

He reached in and pulled out the glint of red out of the ground, but when he had pulled it out, he was very surprised with what he found.

The object he had pulled out had the same red color and reflectiveness of a normal Chaos Emerald, but it just looked like a Master Emerald shard.

"Well this is odd" he said. Silver peered over his shoulder at it.

"But that doesn't look like a Chaos Emerald" he pointed out.

"Yeah, thanks for pointing out the obvious" Shadow replied. "It doesn't look like a Chaos Emerald, but it still radiates Chaos energy. I can use it to make the jump we need."

Shadow stood up out of the sand, brushing off his knees and examining the gem he had found. It looked like a broken red Master Emerald shard, and he had never seen such a thing. The energy it had felt small compared to that of the Chaos Emeralds, but he felt that it had enough energy for Chaos Control.

"Silver, tell me, have you never seen anything like this gem in your world?" Shadow asked Silver.

"No, I never have. Even the Chaos Emeralds have become scarce in my world, and they are all that I've ever seen" he replied.

Shadow took another look at his new find. He hoped that this new object wasn't dangerous. "What do I mean be that" he asked himself. "All sources of Chaos energy are volatile. Even if this is a trap, it wouldn't be more dangerous than using one of the Emeralds."

Shadow breather out. "Silver, it's time. Let's go" he said.

Silver walked over and stood by Shadow. Shadow used his senses to search for another source of Chaos energy, using his Chaos Shard, as he decided to name it, to amplify his search range. As his senses broadened, he suddenly felt a tremendous pocket of energy.

"How did I ever miss that?" he wondered. This energy was the largest he had felt, since that one day on Angel Island, where even his Super Form hadn't been enough. However, he didn't know that they were in this world anymore. But if they were back, there were only a few people who knew about them, and less who understood how to create them.

"Alright Silver, I know exactly where we need to go" Shadow said with confidence. He held his Chaos Shard into, and loudly said, "CHAOS CONTOL!"

The two of them were incased in a bright sphere of light, and the warped away, leaving no trace behind.

 **Soleanna…**

"Goten, come on, it's time for lunch" Chi-Chi called for her son.

"Coming Mom!" Goten called back, and he came scurrying back from the water. His mother had laid out a small spread of fresh fruit, especially apples, bigger and more vibrantly colored than any they had seen before.

Goten climbed up onto the table and reached for one of the apples, but Chi-Chi cut in and said "Now Goten, what do you say?"

"Oh" he said. He turned to the kind old couple running the fruit stand that been so nice to them after hearing their predicament. They had worked out a deal that if Chi-Chi helped out with the stall a bit, that they would supply the two of them with food to eat.

"Thank you very much Sir, and Ma'am" he thanked in his kindest voice to the old couple.

"No problem sonny, it wouldn't be in good conscience to let you starve while you're trapped here" the old man said.

"It's our pleasure" the old lady beside him chimed in.

Both Goten and Chi-chi each grabbed some fruit, and were just about to dig in when they heard a voice behind them say "Mind if I join in?"

Chi-Chi turned around and Goten leaned over to see who had spoken, and it was none other than-

"Gohan!" Goten called. He jumped down from the table and ran over, laughing, to hug his brother.

"Oh, Gohan, where have you been?" his mother asked, standing up and coming over to hug him as well.

Gohan laughed after a bit and said "Alright guys, give me a little breathing room."

Chi-Chi gestured at the table and said "We were about to eat, would you like to join us, Gohan?"

"Sure, I haven't eaten in over a day, I've been pretty busy searching for you guys" he chuckled.

"Gohan, this place has really good apples, you should try one" his brother said, offering him one.

"Heh, sure Goten, I'll try one" he conceded.

They caught up with each other while enjoyed their nice meal of fruit, and Gohan agreed with Goten. This place _did_ have good apples.

"So do either you know what this place is?" Gohan asked the others after their meal was done.

"Yeah, we asked around, and apparently, this island is called Soleanna. It's got a city, a nice forest, and this town here. Apparently they have a massive castle around here somewhere too" Chi-Chi explained what she knew.

"Well, I suppose there are worst places to get stranded it" Gohan said jokingly. "Better than where I ended up" he continued while leaning back and stretching out, enjoying himself for the first time since the disaster.

"Oh Gohan, what's that bruise on your arm?" Chi-Chi asked in a mom voice.

"It's nothing Mom, it's just a little scrape I got while helping some people out in the city I ended up in" Gohan said, trying to calm his mom down before she went into full-on worry mode.

"Anyways, I waited in the city before I was feeling steady again, and then I took off to look for you guys and Dad" Gohan explained.

"Did you find Daddy before us?" Goten asked.

"No, it's been weird. Long story short, when the breakdown happened and the worlds merged, the two world's energies became mixed up, and it's been muffling my ability to sense energy" Gohan explained.

"Well, now that you've found us, we can get off of the island, right?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Yeah, but just out of curiosity, why haven't you guys left yet? They must have had a boat going in and out, and we still got millions of zenifrom Mr. Satan" Gohan asked.

"Strange thing, they don't accept zeni for payment here, nor do they have any conversions" she replied.

"Huh, weird. Well, I know which way a came from, so we should be able to fly off this island and back to the mainland easily enough. From there, we can start searching for Dad" Gohan strategized.

"Sounds good to me Gohan" Chi-Chi replied. "What are we waiting for, let's get-" but she was cut off by the sound of a massive explosion halfway across the town.

Gohan immediately got up and flew over to the sound of the explosion, reacting before his mom or brother had stood up. As he flew over the rooftops, he felt a dark, evil energy coming from the ground, and saw a massive black cloud rising from the spot.

He cleared the distance in a matter of moments, and touched down in the now bare spot in the center of a plaza. As he landed, there has still a bit of black smoke leaking up from the center of the crater.

Gohan took his fighting stance and called out "Ok, I can sense you in there, come out."

However, he was not expecting the response he got, when he heard a deep, evil laughter ring throughout the square.

"Oh, it seems we have a challenger. This is quite the interesting turn of events, for I was not expecting a welcoming party" the same deep voice rang out over the area.

The smoke cleared from the crater, revealing the figure within. It was unlinke anything Gohan had ever seen.

Standing at the heart of the crater was a strange, crystalline being, whose main body was a deep black, accented with purple. The spikes sticking out of the back of his head were the same color, but the tips were white, with the same purple accents. The white color was also present in a tuft of hair-like crystal on his chest, the tips of his clawed fingers, and in the boot like formation around his feet. But that wasn't the worst part.

This being's eyes, were a deep, evil red, with green irises and slit pupils. Staring into them game him a feeling of dread, and helplessness.

He shook the feeling off. "Who are you and what business do you have here?" he challenged this new mysterious foe.

"Forgive me if I answer the second question first. I am merely here, enjoying my return to existence, for I have been gone a very, long, time."

"And now, for your first question. I am the darkest of shadows that exist in this realm, the embodiment of the darkness in the Time God. I am Mephiles the Dark, and I am here to destroy all who stand in my way!"

"Look, I didn't ask for your life story, but thanks for the extra info. Now, I will introduce myself, *ahem, _briefly!_ "

"My name is Gohan, and I stand up for those who cannot protect themselves. You have injured many innocent people, and that makes you an enemy. And I have a special word for my enemies."

"Oh, a verbal beatdown. Let us see this special word" Mephiles taunted.

"Fine, you asked for it!" Gohan said.

"Kaaaaaaaaaa, Meeeeeeeeee, Haaaaaaaaaa, Meeeeeeeeee…"

 **And that is the end of this chapter. In this chapter, Sonic found Knothole, although not in the way he expected. Also, Piccolo and Krillin took it upon themselves to find Goku's family, although Gohan had already took it upon himself to find them himself. However, the return of an old villain cut his reunion short. And with Gohan on the scene, there is sure to be a huge battle in Soleanne's near future. Prepare for this story's first big battle, next chapter!** **Until then, read and review!**


	11. Ramping Things Up

**Last chapter sure did end with a bang, eh? Or rather, building up the bang. Well without further ado, let us get to the first big fight of this story.**

 _ **Last time…**_

"Who are you and what business do you have here?" he challenged this new mysterious foe.

"Forgive me if I answer the second question first. I am merely here, enjoying my return to existence, for I have been gone a very, long, time."

"And now, for your first question. I am the darkest of shadows that exist in this realm, the embodiment of the darkness in the Time God. I am Mephiles the Dark, and I am here to destroy all who stand in my way!"

"Look, I didn't ask for your life story, but thanks for the extra info. Now, I will introduce myself, *ahem, _briefly!_ "

"My name is Gohan, and I stand up for those who cannot protect themselves. You have injured many innocent people, and that makes you an enemy. And I have a special word for my enemies."

"Oh, a verbal beatdown. Let us see this special word" Mephiles taunted.

"Fine, you asked for it!" Gohan said.

"Kaaaaaaaaaa, Meeeeeeeeee, Haaaaaaaaaa, Meeeeeeeeee…"

 _ **Now…**_

"HAAAAAAAAAA!" Gohan screamed as he fired the Kamehameha wave straight at Mephiles.

The beam flew across the square straight at his opponent, ready to blast him apart. However, when it was halfway there, he suddenly split into 3 of himself. The wave hit the middle Mephiles, which was blasted into tiny bits of darkness. However, the remaining two laughed at him.

"Young fool, you cannot destroy a part of the Time God so easily!" he laughed at Gohan.

"Part of a god? Oh man, if this guy is half as strong as Beerus, then I'm in trouble" Gohan thought. Beerus had been the only god he had faced, but he had left him in the dust. If this 'Time God' was half as strong as Beerus, and Mephiles had half of the 'Time God's' power, then he would be in for a tough fight.

"HAH" Gohan shouted as he shot off two quick Ki Blasts at both of them. One of them was blasted apart, but the other took a defensive stance, and was unaffected by the blast. However, he took advantage of this, and charged hit while he was still in his stance. He then moved behind him, and proceeded to deliver a mighty kick to the back of his head, which sent his opponent rocketing across the square and into to wall.

Mephiles had vanished from sight, but he knew that this fight wasn't done for yet. He began focusing his energy to power up.

Then out of nowhere, a thin white beam flew at him out of the dust where Mephiles had crashed. This snapped Gohan's focus, as he dodged out of the way. When the beam hit the wall behind hit, it didn't appear to damage it that much. However, he felt a sinister energy behind, and decided he did not want it to hit him.

He turned around to witness Mephiles charging him and delivering a quick sucker punch to his gut. His build hadn't suggested that he could do much physically, but that gut shot really hurt. Mephiles then circled around his back and blasted him with dark energy from behind, flooring him.

Gohan hadn't experienced someone this strong besides the other god he had faced. With only two shots, he had been brought practically out of the fight.

He rolled over to look at Mephiles. "I won't give up to someone like you" he spat at Mephiles.

"Well, our little friend still has some fight left in him. I suppose we will have to rectify that" Mephiles said. He then flew up a few feet into the air and began to prepare a large sphere of dark energy in his hand. The ball was twice as big as Gohan before he said "Well, I believe that this should be enough to end your pathetic life!" he shouted.

Mephiles readied his energy sphere to throw, and Gohan had just given up on hope when he heard a familiar voice shout "CHAAAAAARGE!"

Then, out of nowhere, his little brother flew straight at Mephiles, knocking him through the air and shattering the energy ball.

"Gohan, are you all right?" SSJ Goten asked Gohan.

"Yeah Goten, I'll be fine" Gohan said, attempting to stand up. As he stood up, he noticed Mephiles flying back across the town at them. "All right, no more games" he thought.

"HaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAA" Gohan began to scream, his hair changing from black to golden blond, his aura of energy swirling around him.

His hair then became a slightly darker shade of blonde, and straightened out to a very sharp point. Bolts of energy began to crackle through his aura, and with a final push, Gohan ascended.

"Now then, let's see Mephiles take me on now!" SSJ2 Gohan said with confidence. He took off above the rooftops to meet Mephiles in the air.

"So, you dyed your hair, is that supposed to scare me?" Mephiles asked.

"Heh, you have no idea what I'm capable of when I'm in this form" SSJ2 Gohan said. Then he proceeded to try something new. He reached deep inside of himself, and felt his true power coming rocketing out.

Gohan's eyes became more defined, his muscle mass increased slightly, and his aura lightened slightly. He began to feel so much power, he felt as if he would burst. But it worked.

"Now, you have no chance anymore" Gohan taunted. He had ascended to a form that he decided to name Ultimate Super Saiyan 2.

He flew towards Mephiles so fast, it seemed he teleported. He circled around behind him, and delivered a swift blow that sent him crashing down into the canal.

Mephiles rose out of the canal with a dark energy blast prepared in each hand, and tossed them both at USSJ2 Gohan, yet he deflected each one with a simple backhand. He then lauched a counterattack with his Super Masenko, sending Mephiles flying. This attack was followed up by sending out a series of homing Ki Blasts over at him.

Once the smoke cleared, he witnessed Mephiles' body fall towards the squared. Not missing a beat, he moved towards his location and kicked him back up into the air. USSJ2 Gohan followed him and began to beat Mephiles around with a flurry of punches and kicks. After a while, he felt Mephiles begin to tire, and decided to end things right then.

USSJ2 Gohan performed a backflip kick to knock Mephiles higher up into the air, then dashed up ahead of him to cut him off with a spiking shot, sending him rocketing towards the ground.

He landed on the ground far ahead of Mephiles, and began charging a quick Kamehameha wave to end things.

His brother landed beside him and asked "Can I help Gohan?"

USSJ2 Gohan smiled and said "Sure Goten, let's do this!"

As Mephiles drew near, the both fired at the same time.

"Kamehameha!"

"Kamekameha!"

Both waves flew off into the sky to meet the falling body. When the two waves and Mephiles met in midair, there was a massive explosion that rocked the town. Gohan let go and reverted to his base form as he felt the evil energy vanish from the sky.

Gohan turned to his brother. "Good job Goten" he praised.

"Thank you Gohan" Goten laughed, also falling down to his base form.

Gohan and his brother turned to go meet up with their mom. They had begun to walk away, when Gohan began to sense something again.

"How?" he asked, and turned around, sensing more dark energy. And indeed, up in the air, was…

"Mephiles!" he shouted. "You should be gone!"

"Well, you thorn in my side, it just so happens that I have the ability to travel through time. And with luck, I had just gathered the energy to do so before your attacks reached me" Mephiles cackled.

"You aren't getting away this time" he yelled. But as he neared, suddenly, there were about twenty Mephiles surrounding him. Then he realized with dread that he had forgotten to transform, and was a sitting duck. Each clone readied a sphere of dark energy, and he realized he was about to become a dark pile of mush.

"Well, I guess this is it" he thought. He was about to close his eyes and try a last resort Explosive Wave to cancel out the attacks, but then he saw a ball of light behind one of the clones. In fact, as he looked around, he saw countless light balls in the air. Then he heard a voice in his head. "Shield yourself Gohan!" the voice said.

Gohan quickly put up a small, but continuous Explosive Wave around, as each ball flew in towards the battlefield, causing many mini explosions throughout the air. Gohan was having his energy drained by the strain of keeping up the Explosive Wave, but heard the explosions stop just before he ran out of energy.

He was about to fall out of the sky before he felt an arm catch him. He looked up and saw Piccolo carrying him down to the ground.

"Heh heh, hey there Piccolo" he said, exhausted from his effort, but glad to see his mentor again.

Piccolo made a small grin and said "Hey Gohan."

Piccolo flew down and landed on the ground, and Gohan got around to standing. As he looked around, he saw his mother rushing over, and Goten and Krillin standing nearby.

"Gohan, my sweet baby boy, how are you? Do you feel all right?" and so on came out of Chi-Chi.

Gohan just tried to stem the flow of worry with "yeah, I'm fine Mom," but it didn't work. His mother kept fussing over him for the next ten minutes. She would have probably gone on longer, but Piccolo cut in.

"Listen Chi-Chi, we know your worried about your son, but Gohan is one tough fighter. He's fine. In the meantime, Bulma sent us from Capsule Corporation to come find you, considering your whole family went off radar when this whole catastrophe first began. Anyways, we need to get you guys back to West City."

Chi-Chi nodded. "You sound serious. All right, Goten was ready to get off of this island anyways" she said.

Goten tugged on his mom's dress. "Does that mean we get to leave now?"

"Yes Goten."

"Yay!" Goten said, bounding into the air.

Gohan looked over at Krillin. "So I'm assuming you guys know the way?" he asked.

Krillin nodded. "Yeah, although we could wait around a few hours if you need to get some energy back."

"Thank you Krillin, but I'll be okay. Let's get a head start on the trip" he said.

"All right, let's go" Piccolo said.

Gohan grabbed his mother, and then the entire group took off into the sky, with Piccolo and Krillin leading the way.

 **In Knothole…**

"I just wish you had got that message out a bit sooner, I had already been boxed up for half an hour before your men got the message and let me out" Knuckles complained.

The entire group had made their way to Knothole, and were currently sitting inside Sally's house, around the living room table.

"Hey, I'm sorry about this Sally, but I knocked one of your guys out before they got the message" Goku said sheepishly.

Sally laughed. "It's okay, my Freedom Fighters are pretty resilient, and even though they seemed really strict from your first impression, they are a rather loose and forgiving group."

"Wow, it seems like I' the only one who got here without getting into any scuffles" Tails chuckled.

"Well you always seemed to be good luck while you were working with us before" Sally said. "Looks like it's still holding up."

Everyone around the table laughed at this. Knuckles decided to be the first to bring up the business.

"So Sally, has Sonic explained why we are here in Knothole?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah, while we were waiting for you guys to arrive, Sonic caught me up on your situation. Although…" she said, giving Sonic a punch in the shoulder, "it would've been nice for you to have something other than the end of the world as a reason to come visit."

"Hey" Sonic laughed. "Sorry, but I told you, I forgot my way here, and besides, I've been fighting Eggman almost constantly over the last few years. I've had no time for a vacation."

Knuckles cleared his throat. "Anyways, so what do you say, could we use Knothole as a base?"

"I'm more that glad to help out friends, and besides..." she said, a hard look entering her eyes. "If this is going to be a fight with Robotnik, I owe him a beat down."

"Who's Robotnik?" Knuckles asked.

"That's Eggman's real name" Sonic explained.

"Anyways, it may need some cleaning up, but your house is still standing Sonic" Sally said.

"Sweet. Hey Tails, still feel like hanging out in my place like old times?" Sonic asked.

"Sure thing Sonic, sounds great."

"And for you two, I can get a house set up for you guys pretty easily" Sally said to Knuckles and Goku.

"No, don't go to any trouble, I've been sleeping outdoors for most of my life" Knuckles said.

"And I can fend for myself, I'm a lot stronger than I look" Goku replied. "I also know a bit about house building from my mentor King Kai."

"Well then, if you two are sure, then I'll go ahead and leave you to your own devices" Sally said. "And it looks like we are set. Sonic, I'm sure some of the original Freedom Fighters would be very glad to see you again. Why don't you stop by and say hello to some of them? You too Tails?"

"Sure thing" the said simultaneously.

"Well then, let's get started" Sally said.

 **Outside of The Great Forest…**

It was night time, and everything was still, when a large ball of energy materialized a few hundred feet from the base of the forest.

Shadow and Silver both fell to the ground, landing lightly on their feet.

"Well, it appears it had enough energy for the jump after all" Shadow said. But when he looked down at his Chaos Shard, it had lost its luster and shine. It was dull now. "What the…" he asked.

"It looks like making the jump drained it of all of its energy" Silver suggested.

"Yeah, I think that you're right. It's not dead though, I can feel a tiny amount of energy left, and that amount is slowly recharging" Shadow said. He then stood up and looked around.

"Well, it doesn't seem like Sonic is here. Maybe there wasn't enough energy in this thing to make the full jump" he reasoned. Shadow then concentrated, and reached out to the surrounding area to look for Chaos signals. He didn't have the Chaos Shard's energy to stabilize his search, so he wasn't able to look out as far, but he began sensing something before too long.

"There it is, that massive Chaos signal again" he thought. He began to think that his first guess had been spot on.

"Well, it seems that Sonic decided to reforge the Super Emeralds" he said out loud.

"Super Emeralds, what are those?" Silver asked.

"The Super Emeralds are the Chaos Emeralds at their full power, and much more powerful. Each Super Emerald has the strength of the entire set of Chaos Emeralds, and when all 7 Super Emeralds are used, then an incredible power can be used" Shadow explained.

"Wow, I never knew there was anything more powerful than the Chaos Emeralds" Silver said, awestruck.

"Well anyways, from what I can sense, the Super Emeralds are all gathered in this forest. And the only ones who know anything about the Super Emeralds besides me are Sonic and his two friends" Shadow said. "So I have a feeling, that if they were reforged, then one of them were behind it."

"Ok Shadow, if you say so" Silver said.

Shadow and Silver both turned towards the forest, and began to walk in.

 **Capsule Corporation…**

"So that's what's been going down" Bulma finished explaining to her new guests.

"Wow, that sounds really bad" Goten said.

"It sounds about like what I predicted would happen, one of the better scenarios anyways" Gohan conceded.

"Bulma, are you sure you haven't caught any trace of my husband?" Chi-Chi asked Bulma.

"Sorry Chi-Chi, but no one has been able to sense his energy, and Dende hasn't been able to find him either. Goku is probably stuck in one of the areas contributed by the other world" Bulma said.

"It's okay Mom, Dad is really strong. He's probably in no real danger right now, he just might be lost" Gohan comforted his mother.

"Well, I've been coming up with something that should be able to track him down easily" Bulma said with a hint of pride in her voice. "No one can sense Goku because the Earth's energy is all twisted up. But, there is another way to sense people besides natural senses. My scientists are currently recreating a scouter that we can use to track him down."

"But if the Earth's energy is messing up everyone's senses, won't it make the scouter malfunction too?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Not quite, because scouters don't sense energies, they look for power levels, which are different. Also, there are much more precise. Even when he's relaxed, Goku emits a higher power level than anyone else, so finding him should be a cinch once the scouter is up and running. It won't even take that long! Scouters are fairly basic technology" Bulma explained to the others.

"No joke, we can find my dad this easily?" Gohan asked excitedly.

Bulma smiled. "No joke, Gohan. You'll see your dad again soon."

"All right!" he said, pumping his fist in the air.

"Anyways, the scouter should be ready in"- Bulma was cut off by a sudden beeping coming out of her pocket. She took out her communicator and looked at it. "Check that, it's ready now" she announced.

"All right, let's get that scouter and find my dad!" Gohan said, still as excited as before.

"All right Gohan, calm down. We're going to grab it and use it straight away" Bulma promised.

As they walked down to the lab where the scouter had been created, everyone was getting excited as they prepared to recover Goku.

Down in the lab itself, all the other Z-Fighters were waiting for them. All of them were grinning in anticipation, save Vegeta. Bulma walked over to the table where the newly finished device was sitting. The scouter's design was an earpiece that looped around to the front for the visor part. Bulma had designed it so that it could also be used as a communicator.

"Ok, who would like to do the honors?" Bulma asked the group. However, to her surprise, no volunteers came up.

Gohan was debating about it in his mind. "I want to find my dad, but these scouters were always used by Frieza and everyone. It doesn't feel right to put one of those on my face."

Bulma was about to put it on herself when she head Vegeta say "Fine, I'll do it."

Everyone looked at Vegeta in surprise. "What? I used scouters for a large portion of my life, so I have the most experience searching with one" he spat.

"Very well Vegeta, here it is" Bulma said, passing it to her husband.

Vegeta took the new scouter and fixed it onto his face. He turned around and pressed a button. The visor began to light up and flash symbols across the screen.

"Hmm?" Vegeta grunted. He took the scouter off and set it on the table.

"Well, it would seem Kakarot is closer at hand than we expected" Vegeta said.

"Well, don't leave us in the dark on this Vegeta, tell us" Bulma commanded.

"There" Vegeta said, shooting a thin beam of energy at the wall behind Bulma. They all turned around to see what he had shot at.

On the wall behind him was Bulma's overhead picture of West City and the surrounding area, post dimensional breakdown. And there was a thin burning hole in…

"The forest?" Gohan asked. "The forest that appeared near West City is where my dad has been hiding out?"

"Well that's strange. I suppose that is a fairly large forest, so Goku could've easily gotten lost in there. I just don't know why he hasn't flown out if he had gotten lost in there" Bulma asked.

"Well, only one thing matters now," Vegeta said, "and that's finding Kakarot."

"Very well then. You can go, Vegeta" Bulma said.

"Wha, but, why me?" he asked.

"You said so yourself, you're the best with a scouter, so it only makes sense that you go, so you can track him down" Bulma reasoned.

"Pfft, fine. Just don't expect me to hurry" he spat.

Vegeta then grabbed the scouter and walked out the door, leaving the rest of them standing there.

"Well I hope he can keep his temper in check around my dad, or he might have to test out his new godly ki" Gohan joked.

"Well, I just hope he doesn't take too long. We've got plans to make, and we ned all the help we can get" Bulma said.

"Well, there's nothing to do but wait. Bulma, mind if I whip up a snack for us in the kitchen?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Sure thing Chi-Chi, that might do us all some good."

After that, they all headed up from the lab, waiting for Vegeta to come back with Goku.

 **And that's a wrap on Chapter 11. We are starting to delve deeper into this story, and the separate parts of the story are beginning to tie together. Tell me how the first major fight of the story came out, and I'll see you guys again in Chapter 12.**


	12. Sonic vs Vegeta

**Hey guys, I'm back with Chapter 12 now. Just a heads up, in a few days, my schedule is going to change, so my updates are going to become less frequent. My daily updates are going to stop for at least a while, but I'm not giving up on this story, so don't worry about that. Anyways, that's all. On with the story!**

 **Up above the forest…**

"Why does that fool Kakarot have to be such a nuisance?"

Vegeta was flying towards the location of the power level the new scouter was picking up. The new scouter was slightly glitchy, but it wasn't bad. It felt like the ones that he would use in his days serving under Frieza.

Suddenly a voice crackled to life over the earpiece. "Vegeta, this is Bulma, do you read me?"

Vegeta stopped moving and hovered in place when he began to receive the transmission. He pressed the button to activate the microphone. "Yeah, I'm here. What is you reason for bothering me this time?"

"You'd better get a good attitude mister, or I'll have no choice but to dismantle your gravity training room!" Bulma threatened.

This got Vegeta's attention. He was no computer whiz, and without multiplied gravity training, he had no chance to catch up to Kakarot. "I mean, what, what can I do for you?" he asked, toning down the hostility.

"That's more like it" Bulma said, kindness returning. "We were just calling you for an update. How close are you to Goku's location?"

"According to the scouter, about 10 more miles. At my top speed, that should be about 5 minutes" Vegeta predicted.

"Well, you go get him then. His family is starting to get anxious" Bulma said.

"Fine then, I'll drag him back as soon as I can" Vegeta said, hanging up afterwards. Then he breathed a sigh of relief. "Well at least that's over. That woman can be a real pain!"

He activated the power tracking feature of his scouter again, so he could get back on track. The scouter pointed him towards the east, further into the forest.

"Let's just get this over with" Vegeta said to himself, and flew off to the east.

 **Knothole…**

Knuckles was hanging out around the border of Knothole, thinking about what he was going to do with the Master Emerald. It was still on Angel Island, and he couldn't just leave it be exploited by Eggman again.

"I wonder if I could transfer the Emerald here" he wondered. After the disaster that happened on Angel Island, he decided he needed a closer watch on the Master Emerald. Besides, if it was here, its power might help them in their battle against Eggman.

"All right, I've got my mind made up. I need to retrieve the Master Emerald" he decided. He was going to trek across over to Angel Island, and then drag it back. He felt like having some solitude anyways.

Knuckles stood up and brushed the dirt off of his legs. He looked around him to see if anyone was nearby, but everyone else was further into Knothole. He considered looking for someone to tell where he was going, but he figured that he would be back within a few days, so hopefully, no one would get too mad.

He began to walk out into the woods, using his connection to the Master Emerald to point him in the right direction. Without anyone noticing, he disappeared into the forest.

 _ **Meanwhile, at the others…**_

"You sure you don't need any help, Goku? We can always lend a hand" Sally said.

"Nah, I'm perfectly okay with doing this by myself. I'm a lot stronger and more capable than I look" Goku assured.

Goku decided that it was the time to build a home for himself. He needed a place to rest after all.

"The only help I need is to be pointed towards an area where I can go harvest some wood to build with. You got any ideas?" he asked

"Yeah, just head that way for a while, and you'll come to a glade where the trees thin out. There will be a little spring almost in the shape of an arrow in there. Just follow that arrow for a while and there will be some good sturdy trees for building with" Sally gave Goku the directions.

"Thanks Sally, I'll be back soon" Goku said, and took off jogging in the direction Sally had pointed him in.

However, Goku left at probably the worst possible time for the rest of Knothole. All the others were about to get a surprise visitor.

 **Above Knothole…**

"According to the scouter, Kakarot is right beneath me" Vegeta said. "And it's about time too. Now I just need to head down there and grab him, and then fly back to Capsule Corp."

Vegeta took off the scouter and stuck it in his pocket, so he could see clearly, without relying on technology anymore.

"Hmmph, let's grab the clown and take off" he said, and descended into the foliage.

 **Down in Sonic's house…**

Sonic was using a small Blue Tornado technique to clear all the dust from his room. The strong wind gathered all of it up, and when Sonic stopped, it flew out the back window. He landed and looked around, and was relatively pleased with the result.

"Wow, I clean up good" he patted himself on the back. He looked around his now dust-free cabin, memories coming back. He noted a lot of familiar items. The backpack he would keep his power rings in on missions, the picture the gang had taken when they had defeated Robotnik the first time, and…

"Wow, I can't believe this was here the entire time" Sonic breathed. He walked over to his shelf and looked down in it. Sitting on the middle shelf was a small pendant, made of a white, glassy material, in the rough shape of a guitar, on a leather string.

"Heh, man, it's been so long since I've seen this old thing" Sonic said. His mind flashed back to his very earliest days as a Freedom Fighter, before he operated exclusively out of Knothole. The days spent running around with his siblings, Sonia and Manik. He hadn't seen them even longer since he had seen Sally before he came back.

"I wonder how those two are doing" Sonic thought. He worked with his brother and sister long before the Freedom Fighters became a more organized bunch, fighting to take down Eggman in more stealthy approaches. It was strange to look back fondly on those days in terror, but he still did.

"Maybe we could find them after we-" but his thoughts were cut off by a large explosion shaking his shack.

Sonic immediately dashed out the door, making it into the central yard in just seconds thanks to his amazing speed. When he got out there, his friends were all backed into a corner, crater in the ground in front of them. Holding them there was a human in a blue jumpsuit, and tall, thin black hair.

"I will ask you one last time. Where, is, Kakarot?" the man asked loudly and forcibly.

"No one threatens my friends!" Sonic thought with rage. He gathered his energy, and launched himself at this new enemy using his Sonic Boost attack.

The mystery man turned around just in time for Sonic to bash through him, sending him crashing into a tree, which broke and collapsed on top of him.

Sonic let out a breath. "And that's what happens to those who attack my friends!" he shouted at the wreckage. He was about to turn to his friends when a massive energy explosion lit up the forest. The man stood up from the tree he had crashed through with murder etched into his face.

"You dare sneak attack the mighty Vegeta?" he shouted at Sonic. "You must be a suicidal fool!"

"You must have a death wish of your own if you go after those who are close to me!" Sonic shot back at the one called Vegeta.

"I don't have time to deal with forest wildlife!" Vegeta spat, and immediately pointed his hand at sonic and sent a large blue sphere of energy towards Sonic.

Sonic could somehow sense the energy behind the attack, and knew that a large portion of Knothole would go up in smoke. Sonic, as fast as he could, countered by firing a Double Sonic Wind to intercept. The attacks themselves may not have had a lot of power behind them, but these wind blades were sharp enough to slice through the energy sphere and caused it to go out early. The two Sonic Wind attacks continued to Vegeta, who dodged them with ease.

"Well, it would seem the forest chipmunk has some fight in him after all. I am still going to destroy you, but may I at least have the honor of learning my opponent name?" Vegeta asked with respect.

"Heh, my name is Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog" he conceded to give him his name.

"Well, Sonic the Hedgehog, you are one of my most even matches that I've faced in a while, but I will end up victor of this fight because of a special technique" Vegeta gloated.

"Yeah, what might that be?" Sonic asked.

"THIS!" Vegeta shouted, immediately ascending to a Super form.

"Heh, amateur" Sonic thought. In an instant, he summoned the green Super Emerald and absorbed its power, ascending to Super Sonic.

"Haha, prepare to-" SSJ Vegeta began to laugh, but then he saw Sonic mirroring his Super Form, and abruptly stopped.

"Well, quite the surprise, eh Vegeta?" Super Sonic said. "You look shocked."

"Well, it seems you have several tricks up your sleeve, but can you copy THIS?!" he shouted.

At this, SSJ Vegeta kept pouring power into his transformation, first his aura crackled with energy, then his hair straightened and hardened, become spiky in nature.

"Oh, don't you worry, I'm not done yet!" SSJ2 Vegeta said. With this, be took a power stance, and began to generate much more energy. His face became slowly more defined, his eyebrows vanishing into his head, and his hair growing until it reached his waist. With one final puch, Vegeta screamed, and finished his ascension to Super Saiyan 3.

"Now then, let's see you copy this one!" SSJ3 Vegeta laughed triumphantly.

"Uh oh, this looks like trouble" Super Sonic thought. He realized he only had one chance, to go all out.

Super Sonic took a power stance of his own, summoning the remaining 6 Super Emeralds, 2 of them from his friends, and they gathered around him. Each one began to rotate around him at an exponentially increasing speed. Both the Emeralds and himself began to glow incredibly bright, glowing with the radiance of a supernova. With a single motion, he absorbed each one of the Super Emeralds, the massive amount of Chaos energy flooding through him. His quills stood up steeper, his body became sleeker, and his fur went from glowing a golden yellow, to rapidly flashing between several light colors, with white as a base.

"Well, I may not be able to copy the long hair, but I was able to mimic the power just fine" Hyper Sonic said.

"Well, isn't this an interesting turn of events. Let's see how you match up against me!" SSJ3 Vegeta shouted. With that, he launched himself at Hyper Sonic.

Sonic's mind was in overdrive thinking about the future of this fight. He knew that at this level of power, he and Vegeta could easily destroy Knothole. He needed to take the fight to the sky above to avoid any casualties. This all flashed through his mind before Vegeta closed half the distance.

He had the perfect idea. When Vegeta came close to him, he used Chaos Control to warp the two of them into the sky, then used his Afterimage Dash to avoid Vegeta's attack. Then he turned around, charged a quick Spin Dash, and rocketed at Vegeta with hyperspeed.

However, the form Vegeta took obviously heightened his senses and speed as well, because he was able to turn around and hit Sonic, not hard enough to harm him, but enough to move him to the side far enough so he missed.

"Perfect" SSJ3 Vegeta yelled, as he turned around and launched his Crimson Galick Gun attack at Hyper Sonic.

"What the-" Hyper Sonic wondered as he turned around. He saw the massive energy beam rocketing towards him, and barely had the time to react.

"Well, no time like the present to try something new" Hyper Sonic thought in desperation. Sonic gathered the energy for a Chaos-boosted large Sonic Wind in each hand. He then clashed them together into one energy ball, and fired them both as a tornado beam, a swirling vortex of chaos-charged winds to meet with the Crimson Galick Gun.

The energy struggle was magnificent, neither beam giving an inch, both evenly matched. However, friction was building up where the two beams were colliding. After almost a sold minute of the struggle, there was an explosion and they were both cancelled out. Hyper Sonic felt the energy drain of his beam more severely than Vegeta did, since he had been using energy attacks for much less time than him. Vegeta took advantage of the moment to fly forward and deliver a devastating blow to Sonic's gut.

Hyper Sonic was sent sailing backwards though the sky, feeling tremendous pain from the blow. However, it separated him from Vegeta, and he came up with the plan to counterattack with his ultimate technique. The very one Mecha Sonic had used against him when he had been fused shut.

Hyper Sonic halted in midair and began to spin charge, gathering energy. He sensed Vegeta flying towards him, as he no doubt thought he was merely attempting to charge him head on again, was taking his time.

He felt the charge complete, and uncurled, energy crystalized on his body, giving him the illusion of being covered in blue ice.

"Ready…" he prepared as Vegeta drew closer. He watched Vegeta hover towards him, getting closer, and closer…

SSJ3 Vegeta thought he was taunting him by merely staring at him, and reacted accordingly. By shouting, "You fool, DIE!" and hurling himself as Sonic.

"Perfect" Hyper Sonic thought. "GO!" he shouted, and began his ultimate attack. He flew towards Vegeta at an unseeable speed, striking him in the gut, sending him flying upwards, but before he could get too high, dashed up after him and spiked him back towards the ground. He continued his assault for a while, battering Vegeta around through the air. Vegeta attempted to retaliate, but the speed of the Light Speed Attack was far too much for even his battle-trained mind to register.

Hyper Sonic then felt it was time for the finishing move. With one final crash, he sent Vegeta flying backwards through the air, then began to build energy. Vegeta managed to right himself quickly, but he had just located Sonic when he launched his attack

"SUPER SONIC BOOST!" he shouted, and rocketed towards Vegeta with speed not much less than that of his Light Speed Attack, but with much more force.

"That fool thinks I will just wait for him? Well he's DEAD WRONG!" SSJ3 Vegeta thought. Vegeta prepared his signature Big Bang Attack in one hand, and launched himself at Sonic, attempting to use his energy blast as the offensive point in his dash.

Sonic and Vegeta were closing in on one another, and almost collided when some invisible force pushed them back, cancelling out their attacks.

"What in the-" Hyper Sonic asked, before he saw that a 3rd member had joined the fight.

Floating between him and Vegeta was a figure, who had the same body and clothes as Goku, holding his arms out, obviously still in the pose he used to blow them back.

But Goku was in a form Sonic had never seen anything like. His hairstyle (the only way to tell Super Forms with them, Sonic thought) was the same as normal, but it was a glowing, mystical red, and the same color was in his eyes. His aura took on the appearance of flames surrounding him.

Goku looked back and forth between Sonic and Vegeta with a serious expression. "Gee, I leave for 5 minutes to go find some wood, and on my way back, I find you two engaged in a battle to the death. What happened?"

Vegeta's hair shrunk, but his aura stayed. He had reverted to Super Saiyan 2, dropping the strain of Super Saiyan 3 while he wasn't fighting. He spat some blood out of the side of his mouth. "Well, it's about time I found you. Come on, your needed at Capsule Corp."

Goku glared at Vegeta. "I don't care where I'm needed. I need to hear the story."

Goku glanced over at Sonic. "Let's go to Knothole so you two can explain this" he said.

"Okay" Hyper Sonic said. He lifted his hand above his head and shouted "Chaos Control!" to teleport the three of them into Sonic's house.

 **At Knothole…**

"So I reacted to my friends being attacked, and charged Vegeta, which was basically when the fight started. He was shouting at them something about a carrot" Sonic said, having reverted to base form.

Goku glanced over at Vegeta. "So you were asking them about me?"

"Your real name is Carrot?" Sonic asked.

"No, my name is Goku. But my original name, and only name to Vegeta, is my Saiyan name, Kakarot" Goku explained.

Sonic squinted. "Eh, you look more like a Goku, but that's me."

"Well anyways, this insane chipmunk attacked me, coming after me for hurting his friends, even though they hadn't been touched, yet" Vegeta said.

Sonic glared at him. " _There was a massive crater at their feet!_ " he exclaimed.

"Enough Sonic, it sounds like everyone is still okay, so calm down" Goku said. He took a deep breath and looked at the pair of them. "I think I understand what happened."

"First, you somehow figured out where I was, Vegeta, and since someone needed me, you came to get me."

"When I wasn't here, you must have interrogated some of the people around here, maybe getting a bit, ah, carried away in the process."

"Hey" Vegeta protested.

"I'll say" said Sonic.

"Sonic saw his friends in trouble, so he rushed over and attacked you to help his friends. Afterwards, you guys began fighting, until I showed up. That sound about right?"

Sonic nodded, and Vegeta grunted a "yes."

"Well, it makes sense" Goku said. "You must have arrived just after I went to go look for wood to build my house with, from the timeframe."

"Yes, yay, we've got everything figured out now" Vegeta said sarcastically. "But now for the real problem at hand. Kakarot, you're needed at Capsule Corporation" he said.

"Sorry Vegeta, but I made my mind that when I leave this forest, the first thing I'm going to go is go look for my family" Goku said.

"Don't bother, we already rounded them up for you. They're waiting for you there" Vegeta said.

"Awesome, then what are we waiting for?" Gou asked, suddenly full of energy. Then he turned to Sonic. "Hey, do you think you and your friends want to come meet my family?" he asked.

"Hey, that's a nice offer Goku. You know what, sure, I'll go ask Tails and Knuckles if they want to come along" Sonic said.

"Great, we'll meet you at the border to Knothole" Goku said.

"Don't be long" Vegeta added.

With that, the two of them walked out the door. Sonic got up and stretched for a moment. He was about to go, but then he remembered something. He turned towards his shelf, and grabbed the guitar-shaped charm off of it, and tied the rope around his neck. It felt comfortable for it to be back on.

He ran out the door and swept over Knothole real quickly to look for his friends. He didn't find Knuckles anywhere, which worried him, but he figured that Knuckles was usually in control, so he didn't get too worked up about it. He found Tails taking a walk around Knothole, and he was happy to join the trip.

The two of them walked towards the border of the small village where Goku and Vegeta were waiting for them. Goku smiled and waved while Vegeta just muttered "about time." Goku turned around and put his index and middle finger to his forehead. He focused for a few moments, but turned around in defeat.

"This mixed out world is still jamming my energy senses, I can't use Instant Transmission to get us there" Goku said.

"Perfect, let's just get to flying" Vegeta said.

"Wait, I think I can get us there, just tell me where it is, and I can do it" Sonic said.

"Very well, our destination is 40 miles due west of here" Vegeta informed.

"Okay, 40 miles west, got it. Everyone gather 'round" Sonic said.

Tails, Goku, and Vegeta each neared Sonic. Sonic simultaneously focused on the destination and drew upon the power of the Super Emeralds. Then, with a flash of light, they had vanished for their destination using Chaos Control. They were on their way to Capsule Corp, and the two main parties of the two worlds were about to meet for the first time.

 **And that's a wrap on Chapter 12. I decided to write another fight for this chapter, a little Sonic vs. Vegeta in their (current) ultimate forms. Although the winner was undeclared, it was a good fight. Next chapter, Sonic and Tails are going to make their first real connection to the other world, and that's when things are going to get real. Until next time, Read & Review, and see you in Chapter 13!**


	13. Meet the Son Family

**Capsule Corp…**

With the classic flash of light, the group of four materialized above the lawns of the Capsule Corporation. Sonic landed a bit more wobbly than the rest of them, feeling the aftershocks.

"Ugh, I'm not Shadow, I ought to go Super Sonic the next time I want to use Chaos Control, just to make it easier" Sonic thought. He looked around at his surroundings. He was on a small field of green grass, and there was a large dome off to his side. He turned towards Goku. "Is this the place?" he asked.

"Yeah, it is. That's pretty accurate for never being here before, Sonic. Good job" Goku congratulated.

Tails looked around. "Wow, so your family lives in this mansion, Goku?" he asked.

"No, my family actually lives in some far away mountains. But Vegeta's family lives here, and it is also the headquarters for a very important technology company" Goku explained.

"Wow, I can't wait to see what kind of tech they make here" Tails said.

Vegeta snorted. "Didn't have you pegged as the scientific type, kid."

Sonic growled at Vegeta. "I'll have you know that before he was even a teen, he had built a massive ship that could survive in space" Sonic stood up for his friend.

Vegeta raised his eyebrows at this, but even he understood what an accomplishment this was. He didn't say anything out loud, however.

Goku leaned down next to Sonic. "Don't worry, Vegeta always acts stuck up, but it's not his fault, and he's not as bad as he looks" he whispered.

"I'll take your word for it" he muttered back.

"Anyways, Bulma told me to get you back here. If I had to guess, she would be in the lab, but you would be better served to knock on the-" Vegeta said, but was cut off by the sound of a kid rushing towards them, yelling "Hey Dad!"

The four of them looked over to see a kid in a green jacket with flat, silver hair running towards them. He ran up to the group, more specifically, Vegeta. He looked up at Vegeta and said "Hi Dad, you're back!"

"Wow, Vegeta didn't seem the fatherly type to me" Sonic said to Goku.

"Well, he isn't much, but he is a father. That's his son Trunks" Goku explained.

Hearing his name, Trunks turned towards the rest of the group. He did a double take when he saw Sonic and Tails. "Wow, what's with the furry guys?" he asked.

"Furry guys?" Sonic asked, perplexed.

"Wha, you can talk?" Trunks asked in astonishment.

Sonic's ear began to twitch, a sign of annoyance, known by anyone who knew Sonic. "Yeah, I can talk, and you can treat us like normal people you know?" he asked, with a twinge of anger in his voice. He may not be a super genius like Tails, but he was intelligent enough to not want to be treated like a freak show.

Trunks immediately looked abashed. "Sorry, I've just never seen anything like you, or that guy" he said, pointing at Tails.

"Well Trunks, this guy right here is named Sonic, and his friend there is named Tails" Goku introduced Trunks to the two of them.

"Well, nice to meet the two of you" Trunks said in a light, friendly tone.

"Enough of the formalities, we have to get Kakarot in to the lab so he can get up to speed" Vegeta cut through the chatter.

"Oh yeah, good point" Goku agreed with Vegeta. He looked back at Sonic and Tails. "Follow me, guys" he said.

They walked around to the back entrance to Capsule Corp, Trunks and Vegeta leading, with Goku, Sonic and Tails behind them. Sonic and Tails were surprised at how different this city was from the ones in their world, or even the Earth that they had visited during the original Chaos Control crisis.

"Hey Tails, you think that theirs any chance that the Earth we've visited before is this Earth?" Sonic asked his buddy.

"I don't think so Sonic. The architecture is quite different than the other Earth's, and the atmosphere is quite different too" Tails said.

"Well, what do you think about the possibility that the walls between ours and the other Earth's broke down as well?"

"Well Sonic, that is very well a possibility. Those barriers were always some of the thinnest, so it could be" Tails reasoned. He then turned to look at Sonic. "Why the sudden interest?" he asked.

"I was just thinking that it would be neat to see Chris and his family again" Sonic admitted.

"Wow, that would be really neat. I'm just worried that if they did merge with us as well, then time might freeze for them in their world" Tails said.

"Oh yeah, I didn't think about that. Man, now I'm torn" Sonic said. "Half of me really wants to see how Chris is doing, but the other half doesn't want his entire world to suffer."

"Well, I guess we can't do anything but keep an eye out for parts of his world in our travels" Tails said.

"Yeah, as usual, you're right, Tails" Sonic said.

Tails laughed. "Heh heh, thank you Sonic."

"Hey, you guys coming?" Goku called back to them. They looked up and realized that they had fallen quite a little ways behind the rest of the group. Goku was a ways ahead, and the other two had already rounded the corner (what do you call a corner on a round house?) and were out of sight.

"Oh, let's catch up, Tails" Sonic said. He grabbed his hand and jogged to catch up. Of course, a jog for Sonic is about the speed of a car, so they were up there in no time.

Vegeta was knocking on the back door to the house when the others caught up with him. He had just stopped when Sonic and Tails put on the brakes. For a moment, it was just the group of five waiting outside the door. Then they heard footsteps on the other side of the door, and the door opened to reveal…

"Hey, Dr. Briefs, how are you doing?" Goku asked the professor who came to the door.

"Ah, Goku, you're here. I'm sure that everyone will be delighted to see you finally back" Dr. Briefs said. Then he noticed Sonic and Tails. "Oh, I see you have some new friends here. Well, why don't you all come in? Everyone is waiting for you in the living room, so go on up there."

The group walked through the backdoor, into one of the lower labs. Tails was awestruck by the machinery, notes, and devices around. As an engineer and inventor, he was able to fully appreciate the gear around him at that moment.

"Wow, is this a matter compression matrix? I've never been able to make a successful one!" Tails said in awe, examining the gadget.

"Ah, so you recognize it? Yes, it is the main component in out capsules that we manufacture" Dr. Briefs explained.

"What are these capsules?" Tails asked, anxious to learn more about this company.

"Our capsules are specialized devices that can compress a large object, say a vehicle, home, or appliance, and fit them into a 'capsule,' a device the size of your finger, which can unload the object with the push of a button" Dr. Briefs described.

"Wow, that is amazing. This company must be world renowned!" Tails exclaimed.

"Yo Tails, you're falling behind" Sonic called from the foot of the stairs.

"Yes, you have business with your friends, we can talk more later" Dr. Briefs said.

"Right" Tails said, as he went for the stairs, using his tails to propel him across the ground.

As they walked up the stairs something was on Tails' mind. After his meeting with Dr. Briefs, he thought back to his conversation with Sonic out in the yard, about Chris' world being tied in with theirs. He started noting similarities between realities, such Chuck and Dr. Briefs. It was hard to believe that different realities could have so much in common, yet all the evidence was there. It even seemed that the two worlds that had joined many more similarities than any others he had seen. It was shocking that there were alternate Super Forms, for one.

They walked up several floors before they finally ditched the staircase for a hallway. As they walked down that hallway, they saw so many solid iron doors, it looked like a prison. Tails knew they must be labs that needed extra containment, however.

At the end of the hallway, there was a large doorway leading into a large open room. As they drew near, they began to hear voices coming from inside of the room. Goku, of course, was the first in, with Vegeta and Trunks following right behind them. Sonic and Tails decided to wait for right then, to give Goku a chance to catch up with his friends and family.

As Goku walked in, he was initially unnoticed, as everyone was in a deep conversation. Goku decided to make himself known to the room.

"Hey guys" he called out.

Conversation stopped immediately in the room as everyone looked over at the doorway. It was silent for a moment. Then…

"Goku" Chi-Chi and all of his friends yelled.

"Dad" and "Daddy" came from his sons.

Everyone rushed over to Goku. His friends gave him shoulder punches, while his family came over and hugged him. Goten actually had his leg locked down and wouldn't let go for a while.

Eventually, everyone settled down enough for Goku to move, although Goten was still clinging to his leg, laughing as he made his way towards the couch.

Once everyone had sat down, Goku began to explain what had been going on.

"So then, I used Instant Transmission to teleport to the power I found, and I ended up defending a small group of the locals from this really strong robot that was attacking them" Goku continued to describe.

"Hey, you actually met with the locals, Goku?" Bulma asked. "What are they like, are they a friendly bunch?"

"Yeah, they're basically us, different personalities with them, in fact" Goku said, looking around. "Huh, where did they go?"

"What do you mean 'they' Goku?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Well, the group of them that I saved from the robot, we actually became quick friends. A few of them are here with me" Goku explained.

"Wow, I can't wait to see them. It'll be nice to make some ties with the locals" Gohan said excitedly. "Where are they?"

"That's what I'm wondering. They should have followed me in. SONIC, TAILS, WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?" he called out, trying to get their attention. However, he didn't get any reaction from the group.

"Maybe they went home?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Nah, they aren't the kind who just ditch. They must be out of earshot" Goku said. He stood up and looked at the group. "Be right back."

He walked out the door and looked up and down the hall. As he looked down the hall, he saw two blue and orange objects down there.

He poured some ki into his flight to skate across the surface of the floor at high speed to catch up to the group. As he got near, he noticed that Tails was leaning against the wall, tinkering with some bits of machinery from his little pouch, and Sonic was working on his spin technique. He began to do his Spin Charge, and immediately canceled into a sweep attack.

Goku ran up to the duo standing there. "Hey, what are you guys doing, I thought you were coming in to meet my friends and family?"

The two looked up at him. "Oh, hey Goku, we were just giving you a chance to catch up with them first" Tails said.

"Yeah, we figured we might as well keep ourselves occupied in the meantime, so we went down the hall so we didn't disturb you guys" Sonic said.

"Well, my friends are anxious to meet you guys, so let's get moving" Goku said to the two of them.

"Alright" Tails said, packing up his metal scraps into the pouch. Then he and Sonic followed Goku down the hall back to the living room.

"Ok guys, here are my friends" Goku announced to the room. He walked into the living room ahead of the others. His family and friends looked towards the doorway expectantly.

Sonic and Tails came into view of the entire room. As they walked through the door, the others were surprised. They had never seen anyone like the two of them.

The two of them walked up and stood by Goku. "Well guys, this is Sonic and Tails. Sonic, Tails, this is…" he began, introducing each of his friends to the two.

After the introductions, Sonic waved at the group. "It's nice to meet you all" he said to the group.

Some of the group was shocked that Sonic could talk. Of course, Gohan was more intrigued than shocked, and Piccolo was known for being more distant than the others. However, the others were surprised. In fact, Goten voiced this shock by saying "You can talk?"

After his encounter with Trunks out in the yard, Sonic was getting a bit tired with them expecting him to be just a normal hedgehog, an animal scrounging by on the forest floor.

Again, his ear began to twitch. "Yeah, I can talk, and much more. Please, can people stop treating me like a wild animal" he asked with an exasperated tone.

Everyone looked a bit abashed when he said this. Then a young man with the same clothes worn by Goku walked over. He held his hand out to Sonic and said "My name is Gohan. It's nice to meet you."

Sonic grabbed his hand and shook it. "And my name is Sonic, nice to meet you too" Sonic replied. "It's nice that someone here treats me normal" he thought.

Tails walked over to Gohan as well. "My name is Tails. It's great to meet you as well" he said, extending his own hand.

"Tails, eh? Well, you certainly earned the name" Gohan laughed, noticing both of Tails' tails.

The four of them laughed at this, and lightened the room. Everyone else got up and came over to introduce themselves to the two of them.

After a while, the introductions subsided, and everyone was able to settle down. Everyone moved back to the couches and started discussions. Goku, as well as Sonic and Tails disclosed everything that had happened since their worlds had collided. However, when Sonic brought up Chaos Control, this made Gohan interrupt.

"Wait, wait. What exactly is this 'Chaos Control'?" he asked.

"Ok, this is going to take a while to explain" Sonic began.

"Chaos energy is an uncommon, extremely powerful, and somewhat unstable form of power. Chaos energy is for the most part, confined to being found within a select few artifacts, known as the Chaos Emeralds, Super Emeralds, and the Master Emerald" he started his explanation. As an example, he summoned the blue Super Emerald so they had a view.

Gohan studied the Super Emerald. "Wow, that thing is actually radiating its own power level, and it's a rather high one at that!" he said, impressed.

"Well, this is a Super Emerald, it's basically an upgraded Chaos Emerald. When you have all 7 Chaos or Super Emeralds, they can unlock a great power!"

"Wait, so you have 7 powerful artifacts that are hidden in your world, ones that can do something amazing when they are all gathered together?" Gohan asked. He glanced around at the others. "Any of you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Sonic asked.

"In our world, we have our own special artifacts, and there are 7 of them as well. They're called the Dragon Balls, and they are 7 large, orange glass orbs, numbered with small stars on the inside. When you gather all 7 in one place, you can summon the dragon, Shenron, who can grant you any 2 wishes" Gohan finished.

Hearing this, Tails made another mental note about the similarities between each of their worlds. It seemed more than a coincidence that each world had 7 rare objects that can do great things when all together.

"Wow, that is extraordinarily odd" Sonic said. "I never expected for such a thing to be in this world."

"Well, I'm sorry for interrupting you Sonic, please continue explaining your Chaos energies" Gohan said.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Anyways, Chaos energy can be harnessed for a number of things. In fact, it's how we assume Super Forms in our world."

"Super Forms? You have them too?" Yamcha asked. "You sure you guys aren't Saiyans?"

"Heh, I'm sure. Our Super Forms work a bit differently than yours do, but they are the same in basis. It multiplies our natural abilities. Anyways, Chaos energy can also be used to power machinery, and be harnessed for attacks. However, one of the most powerful uses it has is in a reaction called Chaos Control."

"Chaos Control happens when Chaos Energy is harnessed to warp time and space. It can be used for teleporting, time travel, and to slow time as well. And the more Chaos energy is harnessed for Chaos Control, the stronger it can be. In fact, with all 7 Chaos Emeralds used, Chaos Control can potentially jump between dimensions. However, when Chaos Control on too large of a scale is performed, the Chaos Emeralds will scatter, keeping you from harnessing their energies until they're gathered again."

"However, as I said before, Chaos energy, when not properly controlled, can have an extremely unstable reaction. That is how our worlds combined. My arch-nemesis, Dr. Eggman, a scientist with a gift for building powerful robots and machines, built a weapon that used the Chaos Emeralds for a focused beam of Chaos Control. However, the machine malfunctioned, and the Chaos Control Cannon exploded, ripping through the dimensional walls with pent-up Chaos energy."

Everyone was silent after Sonic finished his explanation of Chaos energy and the reason for the combining of their worlds. Then Bulma spoke up.

"Well, now we have the answer to that question" she said. "I've been wondering ever since it happened what caused the reaction. Now maybe I can start on a fix!"

"I'm not sure about that" Tails piped up. "Chaos energy is, like Sonic said, very unpredictable when not controlled properly. Even when it's under control, Chaos Control is the most unstable type of reaction possible. Its only stable usage is small term, like limited teleportation, or temporary chrono manipulation. There's no guarantee that Chaos Control on that scale would even have a positive reaction, let alone fix this exact situation" Tails explained.

"Oh, I had no idea. Hmm, this could be worse than I originally thought, then. Well, back to the drawing board" Bulma sighed.

"In the meantime, however, I think that we have something else to worry about, and it's something I've been thinking about since Angel Island. Currently, the Chaos and Master Emeralds are split into the halves with their positive energy, and a manifestation of the negative half of the emeralds. Not only does having only the positive half weaken the Super Forms we can take, but it has given Eggman a massive source of negative Chaos energies. But that's not the worst part. When Eggman split the Master Emerald into its two halves, I began to think about a possible, even worse, repercussion."

"What are you talking about Sonic? What could be worse than the infinite source you said that it supplies?" Goku asked.

Sonic glanced over at Tails. "I'm worried that the negative energies in the half of the Emerald Eggman took, may take on another form."

"What do you mean Son-" Tails began, but then seized up. A look of intense fear appeared on his face. "S-s-sonic, you don't think, that, _he,_ might actually come back?" he asked shakily.

Sonic nodded, while everyone looked at the two of them in confusion. Gohan spoke up. "What are you guys talking about? What is this entity that has you guys so scared?" he asked.

Goku felt that this was more a serious situation than the two of them were letting on. Even though he hadn't known Sonic very long, he had always seen Sonic with a confident expression on his face. But this look of fear he had now was something completely alien on him. He knew that they needed to help. "Sonic, tell us what has you guys so scared" he said with a serious, but calm voice.

Sonic took a deep breath, and tried to keep an even face. "Well, a manifestation of negative energies from the Master Emerald, this sounds _exactly_ like one of the most dangerous enemies we've ever faced. Someone who could easily destroy our planet, Mobius, and survive afterwards. In fact" he began again, glancing towards Vegeta, and then Goku. "This guy was beyond even the power of my Hyper form."

Vegeta looked up in shock, grasping the situation better than anyone. He knew from experience that Sonic's Hyper form was as strong as Super Saiyan 3, and according to him, his Hyper Form was only at half power at the current time.

"Ok Sonic, enough with the riddles. Who is this guy?" Goku asked.

 **In Eggman's Bunker Lab…**

"Ohohohohoho, this is going great!" Eggman gloated.

Eggman was currently working on building a new model for the Metal Sonic series of machines. With his new negative energies, this next one would be his most powerful creation since his control over the Time Eater.

He looked at the assembly table where his high-tech machinery was assembling the new model. It was going to take on a sleeker design than his previous models. It was going to have spines similar to Neo-Metal Sonic's, but shorter. He would be slightly more thin, and that much more tall. His back, arms, and hands were designed as such to make any spin technique into a razor cutting technique. He would also have a matrix that stored negative energy, allowing this new robot to use powerful, dark, energy attacks.

It would also have a separate dark energy compartment with certain inhibitors that would give his new Metal Sonic powers akin to a constant Dark Super state. He had many other features planned for maximum combat potential.

"Hehehehe, even without having direct access to the Dark Emeralds, he will be more powerful than Super Sonic!" Eggman gloated over his new design. He also decided that if this model did well against Sonic, that he would mass produce these new Metal Sonics as he did with his Egg Pawns.

We was also weaving dark energy into every circuit as he was being built, by connecting the Black Emerald, as he had named the negative half of the Master Emerald, to his assembly machine, so that all of his new creation would be filled with dark Chaos energy.

His mind was going through his many ideas for possible features to add to it, when he suddenly heard light footfalls behind him.

With shock, he turned around towards the compartment that contained the Black Emerald. Standing 15 feet away from him, was a figure he had never seen.

It appeared to be another hedgehog, with a hardened, red, shell type skin rather than fur. The new figure also had yellow eyes with purple irises. His head had many thin spines coming out from the top, and two, almost tusk like spines coming out of the bottom, curling underneath his chin. He also had wing-like objects on his back, the same color as the rest of his body.

"Hey, who are you to be intruding on me in my lab?" he demanded.

The red hedgehog glared at him. "Well, not only do you not know who you are dealing with, or how to act in the presence of those who can destroy you, but you also don't realize that I merely want the same thing you do."

"What are you talking about? How do you know our goals are aligned?" Eggman asked.

"Simple. I want revenge on those pesky hedgehogs, Sonic and Shadow, and all of their friends" he replied.

"Oh, another with a vendetta. Very well, perhaps we can join forces, but what can you offer towards Sonic's destruction?" he asked.

The mystery hedgehog replied by holding each hand out and creating a ball of black energy in either one, and then simply answered with, "Power."

"So it would seem. A being with such power could be a very valuable ally to me. I must ask, what is your name, partner?" he asked.

"Why, I would be pleased to answer that" he responded. "I, am Nazo."

 **Quick disclaimer, I do not own Nazo, or Nazo Unleashed. They are both the property of Chakra-X. However, I do enjoy both the series and the character, so I added him to the story. I would have thrown in the disclaimer at the beginning, but since he was only mentioned at the end, it seemed more fitting down here. Anyways, that is the end of this chapter. I realize that most of the chapter was just Sonic connecting with Goku's friends and educating them on what happened, but every story needs exposition chapters. However, I hope you still enjoyed the deepening to the story, and the introduction of Nazo to it. I don't know if I will be able to get another chapter out before me schedule changes, but I will try to. If not, I will just see you the next time I update. Read & Review, and I will be back.**


	14. First Lessons

**Well, power went out at my place about an hour after I wrote the last chapter, so I began writing this one to pass the time. Anyways, power should be back up by midnight, so I should be able to post this pretty soon. On with the story!**

 **Capsule Corporation…**

"Wow, this guy sounds like a pretty tough customer. But I thought that you and this friend of yours, Shadow, destroyed him" Goku said.

Sonic had just finished reciting his encounter with one of the most powerful enemies he had ever faced, Nazo. He had only given a brief overview of the events, and put more effort into explaining his origins and power. He had opted out of telling them about his Dark Super Form, or his ability to fuse with Shadow. Some things were best left in reserve.

"Yeah, he was destroyed. But the way he was created was through negative energies in the Master Emerald. Those energies then condensed into Nazo, who began his rampage. What I'm worried about is the Master Emerald Eggman created that is purely negative energy. It's possible that this new Emerald could recreate Nazo" Sonic explained the reason behind his worry.

"Well, if you're right Sonic, and this guy does come back, I think we could handle him. I've got something I haven't really explained to you" Goku said.

Goku stood up and walked into the middle of the room. "This is kinda tough to do, but I'm going to see if maybe I can show you this transformation I have" he explained. With that, he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He searched deep inside him and attempted to call on a deep, dormant energy within him. He then brought it to the surface.

With a shockwave of energy that was sent throughout the room, Goku burst into the form he had taken earlier, when Sonic and Vegeta had been brawling. His aura turned into a red flame, and his eyes and hair became a red/magenta color.

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that" Sonic said. "I saw that your Super Form levels basically build on one another, but they all had blonde hair. This one stumped me. Is this like, the level after your long haired version?" he asked.

"Nah, this one is more of a branch-off from the others. Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, and Super Saiyan 3 are parts of the basic 'Super Saiyan' line of transformations. This is a form that you can't get naturally, and I just acquired it recently. However," as he was talking, his aura, hair, and eyes faded to normal, "it is very hard to maintain. It's called Super Saiyan God, and I used it to fight with a god of destruction from my world."

"Wow, you fought with an actual god?" Sonic asked. "I've had to tangle with deities before, and they're no laughing matter. But I've never fought an actual god of destruction. That sounds like it's a sphere of influence that needs some serious power to rule over!" he said.

"You're right about that Sonic. He actually knew about that transformation before I did. He came to Earth looking for a Super Saiyan God, hearing a prophecy that it would be one of his only rivals worthy to him. Anyways, it turned out that I gained the transformation, but Super Saiyan God is more of a state of being than that. Sure the transformation is powerful, but it's unstable, hard to keep up. In fact, during our fight, I went from Super Saiyan God to my base form, then to Super Saiyan, not noticing until Beerus, the god, pointed it out. It turned out Super Saiyan God is more of a power increase to my base form."

"Anyways, I figure that this Nazo guy can't be any more powerful than Beerus was, so if we throw all we got at him, then we should be able to win" Goku predicted. Then he turned to Sonic. "You know, I would be interested to hear about some of the deities that you've had to battle before, Sonic. Mind telling us?" he asked.

The rest of the group looked curios as well, so he couldn't just say no. "Ok, you got me, I'll talk" he said.

He thought for a moment. He racked his brain, thinking of gods he had faced in the past. Then his mind brushed up against…

Suddenly, Sonic clutched his head in pain as a swarm of memories entered his mind.

"Sonic!" Tails cried in alarm.

He reached over to help Sonic, but he managed to sit up before Tails reached him. He panted heavily, reeling from the flood that had just crashed into his mind.

"What happened?" several in the group asked, including Goku. But Sonic only had the mind to say one thing. He turned to look at Tails, and said one, simple word.

"Soleanna."

Tails gasped, as the one word opened up the flood of memories into his mind as well. Having the higher IQ, his mind was able to handle it better, but it was still a shock as it entered. After it had passed, he turned to Sonic.

"How, we shouldn't be able to remember that. How are we?" he asked.

"I have no idea, buddy. The only thing I could think of is that explosion did more than join us with Goku's world" Sonic answered.

"Okay, guys, what just happened? Sonic first started hurting, then he said that word, and now you guys are linked or something?" Goku asked.

"Wait, Sonic, did you say 'Soleanna'?" Gohan asked.

Sonic glanced at Gohan. "Yeah, I did. Why, does the name mean anything to you?"

Gohan furrowed his brow. "Well Sonic, then I've got a similar question for you. Does the name 'Mephiles' mean anything to you?"

Sonic looked at Gohan in shock. "You know Mephiles? How?" he asked.

"One other thing. Was one of the gods you've faced a time god?" he asked.

Sonic was shocked that Gohan knew all of this. "Yeah, probably one of my toughest fights. Me, Shadow, and another hedgehog named Silver, we all fought against a time god named Solaris. Mephiles was created when scientists attempted to harness Solaris when he was still only a flame. Then he split, one half being darkness, Mephiles. The other half was an embodiment of flame and destruction, named Iblis."

Goku turned to Sonic. "Why are you so shocked by remembering Solaris, Sonc?" he asked.

Sonic took a deep breath. "Solaris was a true immortal. We couldn't truly defeat him, only harm him enough to render him immobile for a time. To prevent the catastrophe, we time traveled to when Solaris was only a tiny flame, and we put him out. After that, our entire trip to Soleanna, Solaris and all, was erased from history."

"WHAT?" everyone except Sonic and Tails yelled. Gohan was even shocked at this himself. But he stayed calm. "Sonic, I think I may have an explanation for why you're remembering this all of a sudden" he spoke up. He knew a bit about how time worked from all of his studying.

"You see, time can never truly be erased. It can be cut off from all other realities, but on a loop, but it's always still there. The world where you visited Soleanna and fought Solaris still existed, severed from the rest of reality. The events that happened there still happened, but you were moved to another timeline after you put Solaris out. It's possible that when the incident with Chaos Control happened, the walls between those two timelines brushed, becoming close enough that both versions existed simultaneously for a period of time, and thus, entered your mind again, as it had happened, now" he finished.

Sonic had to process all of what Gohan said for a bit, but Tails jumped right on it. "That is actually a really good theory, there. Gohan, I think that might be almost exactly what happened. However, I think that a bit more than the timelines brushing happened."

"Yeah, that occurred to me as well, Tails. Maybe the two lines were so close together, that they leaked into one another. That might explain how Mephiles got here, and it might have also resulted on other leaks as well" Gohan hypothesized.

"This situation keeps sounding worse and worse the more we know about" Bulma complained.

Goku stood up. Well guys, I think I know something that we can do that would help us with all of these threats."

"What would that be, Goku?" Sonic asked.

He looked down at Sonic. "We are going to train you up, Sonic!"

"WHAT?" many people in the room exclaimed again, Sonic included.

"What did I say?" Goku wondered.

"Well, how is getting this one trained up going to help us out?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Well, from the sound of it, Sonic's world has more and more dangerous foes the more we look. So we need more warriors to fight them. Sonic would have the advantage, knowing how they fight. And besides," he said, looking down at Sonic, "I can tell that he has a lot of potential. I saw how you fought against Vegeta, and he is a very accomplished fighter. I think that I could do a lot with you" he praised.

"I'm not sure Goku, I'm not a real warrior type, my style is more using my speed to get through my enemies. I'm not a hand to hand fighter like you or your friends" Sonic said.

"Don't worry Sonic, I have an eye for catching talent. I'm sure that you and Tails could be very good fighters."

"Wait, me too?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, I've seen how you two can work together, and I'm sure that you could make great partners in a fight" he said.

"Well Goku. Okay, I'll train with you" Sonic said.

"Yeah, me too" Tails chimed in.

"Perfect. Hey Gohan, Goten, you guys want to help me?" he asked his sons.

"Hey, sure thing Dad" Gohan said.

"Yeah, I'll help Daddy" Goten said.

"Alright. Hey Bulma, is it okay if we use your lawn to train on?" he asked.

"Sure Goku, just don't destroy anything. I know that your training sessions get a bit _spirited_ " she said.

"Awesome. Okay you four, lets head down onto the lawn" he told the group.

"Right" they all said, and followed him out.

 **Down on the lawn…**

"Okay you two, before we get started on your technique, we need to get you a basic understanding of ki. I understand you know something about energy manipulation, as you use if for your Super Forms, but ki is a bit different. Sit down" he told the two of them.

Sonic and Tails obliged. They weren't sure what to expect, considering they had never been mentored before.

"Now, ki is life energy. All living things have this energy, from the grass, to the stars, to you guys. Knowing you have it is one thing, but harnessing it is another. However, I have a feeling that the two of you will catch on pretty quick. Knowing how to manipulate energy already is a great starting place."

"Now, to find your ki, focus, and reach down deep inside of you. Feel every inch of your body, inside and out. Feel everything that you are, and bring it to the surface. A great starting place is creating an energy ball. I have a feeling once you know how to bring your own energy out, you will do just fine with manipulating it" he encouraged.

Both Sonic and Tails began. They tried to do what Goku had instructed, feel down deep inside of them, and bring their entire inner being to the surface. However, it didn't take very long before…

"Well done Sonic" Goku praised as a small orb of blueish white energy formed in Sonic's hands.

Sonic could hardly believe he had done it in only about 15 minutes. And only a few minutes later, Tails had done it too.

"I'm impressed, you two. You've already learned how to use your ki" Goku praised. It only took them a few minutes with it to learn how to manipulate it around, and create more at will.

"Excellent, you guys. The next step is applying ki to your fighting." Goku picked up a small slab of concrete. "Watch here, you guys. Here is me just throwing a punch." He took a shot at the concrete, but didn't do more than crack it slightly. "Here's what I can do when I use my inner ki to increase my strength" he said, and demonstrated by hitting the slab so hard it shattered.

"Wow, that, that was pretty cool" Sonic said.

"You guys try now" he said.

With that, Sonic and Tails got to work on their next phase of training.

 **In the bunker lab…**

"So, that was you that day. I'm surprised I found an ally so much more powerful than that pesky hedgehog!"

Eggman was learning as much as he could about Nazo's feud with Sonic. He had already learned about the entire fight between the two of them. However, there was one fact that had surprised him more than anything.

"So you say that somehow, using Chaos Control, Sonic and Shadow were able to fuse into a single body, somehow creating a new entity that was named Shadic?" he asked.

"Yes, the insufferable hedgehogs had more than their fair share of tricks up their sleeves. The unification that they were able to perform was one of the ones that worked the most though. Using their fusion, and the Hyper transformation, they were able to overwhelm me. However, if their friends hadn't intervened, I would've won our battle" he spat.

"Well, I have been fighting for Sonic for a very long time now, and I have devised many methods for exterminating the hedgehog, but none of them have worked so far. They have a habit of finding a way through any challenge, and surviving."

"Well, we will have to do something about that the next time we come across them!" Nazo laughed maniacally.

"Hohohohohohoho" Eggman laughed as well.

 **Back at Capsule Corporation…**

In just 2 hours, Sonic and Tails had advanced quite far. They were able to channel ki into their fighting style and use basic energy waves already. Goku decided that it was time to work on their techniques. First though, he needed to see their signature moves to determine their strengths and weaknesses.

"Okay you two, I think we are almost ready to move onto the next phase of training. But first off, I need to see what your guys' signature moves are. Sonic, care to go first?" he asked.

"Sure thing" he responded. He stepped forward and took a deep breath. He then turned towards Goku and said "Just a fair warning, this one can cut though stone. Where should I aim it?" he asked.

Goku pulled up another concrete slab and made it stand upright. "Aim it at this, Sonic" he said.

"Alright" he said. Then, in his hand, he readied a ball of winds. He then swung his arm and released the attack, yelling "Sonic Wind!"

The attack took on the form of a blade and flew straight through the concrete, slicing it perfectly.

"Wow, that was really good Sonic" Goku said.

"Yeah, it's also versatile. It can be used as a basic blast as well, or even creating a small tornado. It basically manipulates wind energy how I want it to" he said.

Goku listened to what he just heard, and realized something that Sonic himself didn't know. "Sonic, it's not the technique that manipulates the wind, you're the one doing that" he said.

"Wait, what are you saying?" he asked.

"I'm saying Sonic, that you have at least some form or power over the wind. You can literally control an element. I thought that was only the sort of power found in stories, but it looks like you have it!" he said excitedly.

"You're not joking with me? You actually think that I can manipulate the wind?" Sonic asked in wonder.

"Well, I'll have to see more of what you can do first, before I'm completely sure about it, but I have high hopes. Think about it this way. Can you use a technique that manipulates the wind if _you_ can't manipulate the wind?"

"Well, when you put it that way…" Sonic laughed. Inside, he was beginning to feel truly excited. He had never even really thought about his Sonic Wind move this much before, and the thought that he could control the wind was something that made him feel all tingly inside.

"But we will work on that later. The main point of my training is to unlock your guys' fighting talents. Elemental manipulation will have to come later. For now, Sonic, we need to work on your hand to hand combat skills. Gohan, would you be Sonic's sparring partener?" he asked his son.

"Sure thing Dad" he answered. He stood up and walked over away from the group and beckoned for Sonic to follow. Once they had each gotten a fair distance away, Gohan stopped and faced Sonic.

"Alright Sonic, I want you to come at me, but not with using any of your normal bash attacks, like that boost or spin dash. Use martial arts to attack me" Gohan instructed.

"Uh, okay" Sonic said. He readied himself for this. Without warning, he launched himself at Gohan with his arm pulled back, ready to strike.

However, as he let his punch fly, Gohan grabbed his arm and pulled it, then simultaneously swept Sonic's feet out from underneath him, resulting in him falling flat on his face.

Gohan stood over Sonic. "You need to be quicker with your hands than your feet in a fight, Sonic. It's also dangerous to telegraph your movements that early unless you're planning to fake your enemy out. Come at me again, and try to catch me off guard, or match my counterattack, alright?"

Sonic stood up, spitting grass out of his mouth. "Yeah" he said.

"Okay, again!" Gohan instructed. Sonic launched himself at Gohan again, attmeting to improve on his fighting technique.

 **Lost in the Great Forest…**

"I don't understand what happened. First the Chaos energy flared, and now it's gone. It's like he knew we were coming and tried to avoid us, but had to use it for something before he vanished."

Shadow was perplexed at how he could no longer sense the energy from the Super Emeralds. They were clear as day a while back. Then suddenly, they spiked, becoming all the more noticeable, and now, poof, they were gone.

"This makes no sense" he complained.

"So you're telling me that you lost the signal?" Silver asked him.

Shadow glared over at Silver. "Not quite. The energy in my Chaos Shard is almost at maximum again. I should be able to harness it now to search for the Chaos energy, wherever it is, and then use Chaos Control to move us there."

"Good theory. Hop to it and apply it already" Silver said.

"I'll apply the sharp end of the Shard to your skull if you don't stop" Shadow thought. He harnessed the Chaos Shard to broaden his Chaos senses once more. He only had to search for mere moments before he found the Super Emeralds. "Ah, there we are" he said. He motioned for Silver to get closer.

"This jump is over a much shorter distance than the last one, so we should be able to get there with ease" Shadow said. "Time to finally find Sonic."

And with that, the pair of them disappeared in a flash of light, on their way to finally catch up with Sonic and their friends.


	15. Power Levels Rising

**Ok, guys, I'm back. It took a while, but I finally got it ready. Chapter 15, here we go.**

"Yeeeeaaaaagghh" Sonic grunted while launching a side kick, straight for Gohan's stomach.

He and Gohan were still training on the front lawns of the Capsule Corporation, sparring. Over the last few hours, he had more or less perfects harnessing his energy for physical purposes, and his fighting technique was beginning to improve.

However, he was only just learning his style, and Gohan was a master. He was able to cross his arms in a defensive stance to completely block to kick, and then retaliated by landing a strike Sonic's chest, sending him reeling back a few yards.

"Are we sure that this is event worth it?" Sonic asked. "This fighting style seems completely unnatural to me, and my body is fighting me on using it."

"Yeah, I've noticed the trouble that you have been having with this. Hmmm, there's got to be something that we can do to help with your technique. Something that feels more natural to you" Gohan said.

At the word "natural," and idea sparked in Sonic's mind. He looked over at Tails, who was sparring with Goten, and he noticed that along with new moves, Tails was still using his tail attacks as a basis to his style. That solidified the idea in his mind.

He turned to Gohan. "Okay, Gohan, I am going to come at you again now" he warned.

"Alright Sonic, let's see it" he said.

Sonic took a deep breath to ready himself. Then, he curled down into his Spin Charge, revved a few times, and hurtled himself at Gohan. As he drew near, he used his drift to curl around Gohan at super speed. Gohan turned to meet him, yet Sonic was able to uncurl and deliver a hard kick straight to his chest, sending him up in the air, then crashing down.

For a moment, Gohan didn't move. Sonic was worried that he had hit Gohan too hard. But then he stood up with an amused expression on his face. "Well, Sonic, it looks like you found the groove that worked for you" he said. He got down into his fighting stance. "Let's see you do it again, Sonic. Use that speed of yours to your advantage!" he encouraged.

Sonic curled back up into a Spin Charge, revved up again, and flew across the yard at Gohan. However, between the two of them, there was suddenly a bright flash of light. Sonic attempted to stop, but he was moving too fast. He went into the light at high speed and felt himself crash into something solid. He heard an "oof" come out of the light. When the light cleared and he stood up, a sight greeted his eyes that he didn't expect.

The figure that he had struck in the light was none other than Shadow, who had been sent flying across the yard and crashed into Gohan, where they lay in a heap. But that wasn't the most shocking part. On the ground beside him, having knocked him down as well, was...

"Silver?"

Somehow, the silvery hedgehog was not only in his world, he was 2 feet away from him. He had so many questions flying through his mind, and he wasn't the only one. The scuffle that had taken place over there had attracted the attention of Tails and others.

Goku ran over and immediately transformed into Super Saiyan and got into a fighting stance. Goten, rather than run up, for some reason ran over near Trunks.

"Whoa, guys, back up" Sonic said, trying to flag them, making sure they didn't attack his friends. Luckily they noticed him.

"Who are these two, Sonic?" Goku asked him.

"Well, that's Shadow" he said, gesturing over to the pileup that had happened. He then reached down and helped Silver to his feet. "And this is Silver."

"So, the famous Shadow and Silver, well I'm glad I finally get to meet the two of you" he said.

Shadow stood up and got off Gohan. Gohan also stood up behind him. The two of them walked over to rest of the group.

"You do realize that it is hard to track someone who keeps moving around, right?" Shadow asked.

"Huh, why were you tracking me?" Sonic asked.

"Because I asked him to help me find you" Silver said to him. "When I found myself here, I knew that I needed to find you to help me get back."

"Wait, back? You don't mean you _want_ to go back to Crisis City?" Sonic asked.

"Crisis City?" Silver asked.

"That's what we call the post-apocalyptic world that you come from" Sonic said.

"Okay. Well, yeah, I'm not a part of your world. I need to return to mine. And besides, I have, unfinished business there anyways" he said, averting his gaze.

"What sort of business? We could help you with it, Silver" Sonic said.

"No, this is a family matter" Silver said. He looked up at Sonic. "Listen, I can help you with your current predicament. But in return, I want you to help me return to my world once everything is over."

Sonic sighed. "Nothing we can say will change your mind?" he asked.

"No Sonic, I'm afraid not."

"Well, I was hoping that you'd be around to stay this time, since the last time we saw you was during the Time Eater Crisis. Well, if you need to return, then sure, I'll help you" Sonic said.

Sonic then turned to Shadow. "Are you sticking around too?" he asked.

"I might as well, we do need to solve this problem, and as we've found out in the past, we make a pretty good team" Shadow said, letting a small grin loose.

"That's awesome. Looks like our team just got a lot bigger" Sonic said.

Goku was interested in something. "Hey, you guys say you make a good team?" he asked Sonic and Shadow.

"Yeah, we do. Why the sudden interest?" Sonic asked.

"Well, why don't we put your teamwork to the test?" he asked the duo. "I know a pair that might work better together than you."

This tickled Shadow a bit. "No one is more powerful than me, and when I work with him, then we are unbeatable" he assured.

"Okay then, it sounds like we've got a match" Goku said. He turned behind them to his and Vegeta's kids. "Hey you two, lets introduce them to Gotenks" he told them.

"Wait, I thought you said we were facing a team of two. Why are they getting someone else?" Sonic asked.

Goku simply said "You will only be fighting the two of them."

Goten and Trunks stood a small distance apart. They each proceeded to strike a pose. Then they said "Fuuuuuuuuu…" as they began performing some sort of ritual.

"What are they doing?" Shadow asked.

"Sion…" the two said, continuing.

"You guys are about to see whether or not you can really work in synch with each other" Goku said.

"HA!" the two screamed, and leaned in to touch fingers. When they connected, there was a bright flash of light that blinded the two hedgehogs. However, when the light cleared, they were even more shocked at the sight that greeted them.

Standing between where the two boys had been, a new boy had appeared. He stood a little taller than either of them had, wore white pants and a weird vest, and had hair that was black in the center and silver on the sides.

"Wha-what's going on?" Sonic asked, dumbstruck.

"You see, we have something in our world called Fusion. Two people can join bodies and become super warriors with it, but it only lasts for 30 minutes. I decided that this would be a good test for your teamwork" Goku explained.

It took a minute for the two of them to process this, but afterwards, they looked at each other, and immediately knew what they were going to do.

"Shadow, here!" he said, as he materialized two Super Emeralds, a green and blue one, and moved the green one to Shadow. Then he turned to their challenger. "So I'm guessing that you are the Gotenks that was mentioned earlier?" Sonic asked.

"The one and only" Gotenks said with a confident tone. "I see that we're going to see your Super Forms here. I guess that we might as well do the same!" he said, immediately powering up to Super Saiyan.

Both Sonic and Shadow absorbed their Emeralds and ascended to Super Sonic and Super Shadow. But oddly, instead of getting ready to fight, the jumped backwards and smirked.

"Hey, what's the matter, getting cold feet?" Gotenks taunted.

"Not in the slightest. We just figured that it was time to even the playing field" Super Shadow said.

Gotenks didn't understand what he was saying, but Goku had an inkling, feeling that with so many similarities already, there might be more.

Sonic and Shadow turned their heads towards each other. Then they both nodded at the same time, perfectly in synch with one another. They each began to generate power, their auras becoming more defined. Then, again, in perfect synch, they both shouted "CHAOS CONTROL!"

Each one of them vanished from the spot, a ball of light forming between them. Goku began to feel some of the strongest energy he had ever felt come out of the orb. The orb began to glow even brighter, with the same yellow coloring of the Super Forms. For a second, the orb began to fade, but then even more energy exploded out of it, forming a beacon that climbed high into the sky.

Then, as the light cleared, a new figure stood inside. This new figure was covered in golden-yellow fur, and had red irises. The spines of the new figure were more numerous than either of the others had. Some of them, mostly the ones off to the side, had the same red stripes Shadow had had.

"No way, you guys have the ability to fuse as well?" Goku asked. "What are you guys called?"

The new figure chuckled then faced Goku. "Shadic" he said simply. Then he faced Gotenks. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked, his voice a combination of Sonic and Shadow's voices.

"Nothing at all, let's go!" he replied, and flew at Shadic.

He threw a punch that went through Super Shadic, like he was only a phantom. After a moment, the image of Shadic disappeared.

"Wha-" SSJ Gotenks began to ask, but out of nowhere, Shadic reappeared and kicked Gotenks into the air like a kickball. He followed it up by flying up after him and smacking him sideways through the air with a spin kick.

Gotenks righted himself in the air and came to a stop. "Owowow, why did you hit me so herd? You're fighting a kid!" he complained. Then he sucked it up and grinned again. "Luckily, I've got another transformation that I can use."

After a brief moment of powering up, Gotenks' hair grew down to his waist, and his eyebrows disappeared, signaling he had transformed into a Super Saiyan 3.

"All right, Super Gotenks is in the house!" he cheered. "Let's get back to business!" he said, launching himself at Shadic.

This time, things were more evenly matched. Shadic had an enhanced understanding and skills with martial arts, and his speed still gave him an edge, but Gotenks' power-up allowed him to be more or less on par with Shadic, for the moment.

The two were trading blows at lightning speed. Just as fast as one of them could throw a punch, the other would catch it in their hand or sway so that it missed. A kick was countered with another kick. Eventually, the pair had separated, both breathing hard from the effort.

"Man, it's been a while since I've had a match this exciting" Super Shadic complimented.

"Yeah, it's not every day that someone can match my awesomeness" Super Gotenks said.

"Well, I say that we should end this match pretty fast here. From what I heard, your fusion isn't going to last much longer. Let's give the others a show" Super Shadic said.

"Sure" Super Gotenks said. He had the perfect attack planned for the confrontation. He began charging energy.

"Let's do this!" Super Shadic said. He too began charging energy. He was channeling Chaos energy and wind energy into a single point, creating an energy ball.

At the same moment, both warriors had finished charging the energy for their attacks.

"Victory Cannon" Super Gotenks screeched, firing a large Mouth Beam at Shadic.

"Chaos Wind!" Super Shadic shouted, firing his large combo attack at the oncoming beam. He then backed up his attack by launching a simple stream of Chaos energy.

The two attacks clashed in the sky. The yellow Victory Cannon was doing its best to push back the turquoise Chaos Wind attack. They attacks seemed evenly matched for a moment, but after a bit…

"What?" Super Gotenks thought. The Chaos Wind suddenly was piercing straight through his Victory Cannon. He poured as much energy as he could into his own attack, but it was too late. The attack struck him head on. He fell out of the sky, defusing when he hit the ground.

Super Shadic landed on the ground as well. He let out a deep breath, and with a quick flash, defused as well.

Sonic looked at Shadow. "It sure has been a long time since we fused, huh?" he asked.

Shadow just did his classic single laugh and replied "Not since Angel Island."

The two of them laughed with each other, but they were the only ones. Goku just though about what they meant when they said "Not since Angel Island."

"Sonic, are you saying that when you fought that guy Nazo on Angel Island, you fused with Shadow? That's how you worked with him?"

"Yeah, why?" Sonic asked.

Goku looked slightly apprehensive now. "Then he may be much more powerful than I realized. I just assumed that you both attacked Nazo, but if you fused, and he gave you trouble then…" he shivered. "Sonic, I'm one for a good challenge and all, but this guy sounds incredibly powerful, too powerful. The world doesn't need to be put in that kind of danger" he decided.

"Yeah, I agree with you there. Still, chances are that Nazo won't be back. Last time, he was born in a manifestation of negative energies congealing in the Master Emerald. This time, the only basis for his return would be the Master Emerald's natural negative energies. I'm no expert on this, but it's still a worry that I have" Sonic said.

Shadow looked at Sonic. "I sure hope that you're right Sonic. Nazo only seeks destruction, and he would go after the Earth again, just to get rid of the Master Emerald. Fool can't bear the thought of something on a higher level than him" he snorted.

Goku laughed. "Man, then he would hate this world. There are gods here that can practically destroy this planet by flopping down into a seat."

They all shared another laugh. The group seemed to be getting along well, and it was right then that Gohan had an idea.

"Hey Dad, you said that Sonic has some degree of wind control, right?" he asked.

Goku looked confused by the question. "Um, yeah, but why is that important right now?"

Gohan turned to Shadow and Silver. "I don't suppose you two have some sort of element or energy that you have some control over?" he asked.

"Why, as a matter of fact, we do" Shadow said. "I have ties with the Chaos Force that we utilized for our sparring match."

"And I have a little ability of my own that I call Psychokinesis" Silver said. "It's a psychic ability that allows me to levitate and manipulate objects."

"And how do you all feel about the possibility of improving your special abilities?" Gohan asked all three hedgehogs.

There was silence for a moment, and then Sonic spoke up. "I'm game, what do you have in mind?"

Gohan turned back to his dad. "Hey, you think maybe we know a guy who can help these guys with their 'potential' powers?" he asked.

"What do you-" Goku began, but then caught on to what Gohan was suggesting. "That's not a bad idea, Gohan, but there isn't any imminent threat this time. What's going to convince him to help us?" he asked.

"Hey, don't keep us out of the loop, what's going on?" Silver said.

"We know a guy that has a special power to unlock every bit of someone's hidden potential. His name is Old Kai. He's one of the Kais, who are basically guardians of our universe. The only problem is," Gohan said, looking around. He bent down and lowered his voice to whisper. "He's a bit of an old fogey."

"Well, if he's in charge of guarding the universe, then shouldn't he help us without question?" Sonic asked.

"Nah, this guy is, well, to put it bluntly, a bit of a perv" Gohan said with a faint 'it's funny sounding but I'm not joking' sort of grin. "The last time we got him to help us, part of it was us doubting his powers, and the other was a promise for a date with Bulma."

Sonic chuckled. "Heh, well, if he's interested in the same offer, I've got someone who I would like off my back for a while."

"Sonic" Tails said in a conflicted voice between amused and disapproving.

"Hey, I was only joking about Amy" Sonic said.

"Who's Amy?" Goku asked.

"Well, um, she's-" Sonic tried to say, when Shadow helped him out.

"She's a borderline stalker" he said. This statement was followed by silence. Goku's family was trying to figure out if he was joking or not (It's hard to tell when you have such a serious voice) while Sonic, Tails, and Silver were a bit shocked to hear Shadow say something like that.

Sonic decided to clarify before things got too weird. "She's a friend of ours, but she does tend to keep close to me, a little too close." He looked at Shadow. "But she _is_ a good friend. She is not a stalker."

Shadow looked at Sonic with a glint of amusement in his eyes. "I said borderline" he protested.

Everyone busted up and began laughing. Shadow may not try to entertain very often, but his normal serious demeanor made it a sight to behold when he did.

When everyone settled down, Gohan was the first to speak again. "Well, in any case, I think we've trained enough for today you two. You guys were pretty amazing for never practicing martial arts before" he praised them. "Why don't we go rest up?"

"Sounds good to me" Sonic said.

"And me" Tails chimed in.

Goku turned to the other two hedgehogs. "You two are welcome to stay with us if you want" he offered.

There was no immediate answer from either of them. Then Shadow piped up. "Sounds like as good of an idea as any. Besides, I need to learn how to fit in a bit more. The ultimate life form can't even socialize normally" he said.

"And I'll come too. If I'm going to help out, then I might as well stick with the group" Silver answered.

"Well, let's all head in" he said. He turned around to walk back inside, but then his stomach loudly rumbled.

Sonic looked up in shock. "Did I just hear a lion?" he asked. As fate would have it, his stomach rumbled at the same time.

Goku laughed. "You're one to talk, Sonic. You could cause a rockslide with that" he said.

The group had a good laugh as they walked back inside. As they walked through the halls, Sonic was only wondering if they had anything for chili dogs around.

 **In the bunker lab…**

"Yes, yes, my new prototype is almost complete. Only a few more hours."

Eggman was watching as the new machine, Dark Metal Sonic, was nearing completion down in his assembly line. This machine would not only look deadly and sleek, but would completely outpace Sonic. And unlike his other versions of Metal Sonic, this one would only have enough AI for an evolving battle style. It wouldn't have enough to betray him like Neo-Metal Sonic. That model was still roaming somewhere, still disloyal, only focused on a rivalry with the hedgehog.

"This model, will finally put an end to the meddling of that insufferable Sonic" he said. He couldn't wait to have that hedgehog locked up in a dungeon somewhere, unable to stop him from world domination.

His thoughts of domination, however, where interrupted when alarms went off. He looked over towards his control panel to look for the cause, and noticed a massive surge of chaos energy.

He ran to the chamber where he was storing the Dark Emeralds to witness Nazo standing in front of a black portal.

"What are you doing with the Emeralds?" he shouted at Nazo.

Nazo looked over to him. "Last time I fought Sonic, I was too hasty. This time, I'm playing it smart. I've been using these Emeralds for divination. And I've learned something about this new land we've joined with."

"That doesn't answer my question. You're using enough Chaos energy to destroy my base. Divination wouldn't take that much, so what is it that you are doing now?" he demanded.

"I've been communicating with some beings on the mirrored side of this world. It seems they are interested in similar goals to our own. So I am, let's say, summoning some allies" Nazo said.

"Allies, hm? Well, I hope you've made it clear that I don't accept treasonous behavior on my partner's behalf."

Nazo gave a dark laugh. "I've made sure of this. This partnership will only be working together, improving each other to deal with our enemies. Now, if you don't mind…" he said, turning back to the portal.

"I hope that these allies can help" Eggman thought. "I don't need another disaster like the Time Eater incident. I would still be stuck in that white void if Sonic didn't take pity on me and call me back."

After another moment, the portal suddenly stabilized, and a view of a dark, rocky place came into view. Then a large group of shadowy figures appeared, and stepped through, one by one.

The first one to step through was a humanoid, white, lizard-like man, with a cold expression.

The next one was a much taller figure, also humanoid, but unable to be described as well. Green, speckled black, with wing type objects on its back.

Many more came through as well. A purple figure resembling the first one to come through. A large man with orange hair. Another who was bald. One who had dark skin and spiky hair, among others.

The last one who came through was a large man, with nothing on his torso, and long black hair. His expression was somewhat fierce, but at the same time dopey. Occasionally, he would glare around at the rest of the company.

One time he clenched his fist, and the white lizard-man shook his finger and said "Now now, Broly, remember all the work we did making you sane again. Control yourself."

Broly glared at him, then assumed a calmer expression.

The green humanoid turned towards Nazo. "So, you're the one who contacted us and let us out?" he asked.

"Yes, and by your demeanor, I assume that you're the one called Cell" he replied.

"You assume correctly" he affirmed. He then turned to Eggman. "And this is the scientist you mentioned?"

"Yes, he is Doctor Robotnik, more often known as Eggman."

"Well, Eggman, I think that we have someone here that you may find more use from." Cell said. "Gero, I think we've found you a fellow inventor" he called back into the crowd.

A wrinkly man with a large black hat stepped forward. Lights seemed to flash across his eyes as he stared at Dr. Eggman. "Well, your brainwaves do suggest a higher intellect. Very well, I am Doctor Gero, and it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, and I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik, although I prefer Dr. Eggman. Tell me, what exactly are your plans by coming here to my base?"

"Well, we were all stuck in that wretched world by one man. We all desire revenge. And your partner explained that you are in a similar position. He proposed that if we were to join, that we may both get what we want" Gero explained.

"Yes, that putrid monkey will pay dearly for his actions" the white lizard-man said.

"That is Frieza, a warlord who had ruled over many galaxies at one point. He was stopped by the same one who stopped the rest of us" Gero explained.

"We will have time for introductions later. For now, I need information. Tell me as much as you can about your world, and this one who has given you your trouble. I will relay the same information from my end in exchange" Eggman negotiated.

"Very well, then we will tell you everything we know about our problem. The Saiyan, Goku."

 **And that's a wrap on Chapter 15. Hope I didn't keep you guys waiting for too long. I've had a lot going on lately and haven't had much time to work on the story. My frequent updates are in the past now, but I'll keep the story coming. Anyways, for all of you reading it, please, read it, review it, and enjoy it!**


	16. Chaotic Clash

**Capsule Corp…**

"What do you mean, you've never heard of chili dogs?" Sonic shouted.

Tails, the hedgehogs, and the saiyans had just arrived in the living room. After Shadow and Silver had been introduced, the conversation of dinner struck up. While food was being discussed, Sonic was a little more than surprised that they had never heard of his favorite food. Sonic was shocked, Tails was trying to stifle a laugh, Shadow and Silver were neutral, while everyone else had no idea what was going on.

"I've heard of hot dogs. Is a chilly dog a frozen hot dog?" Goku asked.

Sonic literally had no response to what he had just heard. He tried, several times, but nothing came to mind. Eventually he just decided on "can someone show me to the kitchen?"

Bulma stood up and showed Sonic towards the kitchen. Once in there, Sonic got immediately to work, finding anything he could use to make his favorite food. Bulma came back out after bringing him in and sat on the couch, soon followed by odors drifting out of the kitchen. Conversation was then struck up.

"So Goku, how are your two little prodigies coming along?" Bulma asked.

"They're really something. Sonic and Tails both were able to understand ki in under an hour. I think that them being able to control their Chaos power was a big head start. Still…" Goku trailed off. "I wonder how they can harness it so. I briefly came into contact with some a while back, and it was scathing. It's nothing like ki."

"Who knows, maybe it was like that to them at first also. But it seems to work well for them. The power I caught off his regular Super Form was a little bit more powerful as our first level of Super Saiyan, and they aren't even at full power" Gohan noted.

"Yeah, but at least us Super Saiyans can transform on our own. We don't need outside power" Vegeta said.

"Actually, I really don't either" Sonic said, walking back out of the kitchen. "I've absorbed enough Chaos energy over the years to transform on my own. The only downside is it's less powerful and harder to reach without the Emeralds" he explained.

"Oh really? Prove it then" Vegeta taunted.

"I will" Sonic shot back. And with that, he stood still and tensed up.

Slowly, but noticeably, the Z-Fighters began to fell Sonic's power level rising. After a few moments, energy swirled around him and a faint aura became visible. His eyes began to turn a mix of green and red. His fur would lighten, and then fade, and his quills began to uplift. Without warning, his energy spiked, and his fur turned fully yellow, his eyes fully red, and a golden aura flared up.

"Well, it seems that you weren't bluffing" Vegeta stated after the transformation was complete. "It is still noticeably less powerful though."

"He, don't be too cocky Vegeta, he's not too far behind the strength of our basic Super Saiyan forms" Gohan said. "It wouldn't take too much training before it became on par with our transformations, and with the similarities we have, he might even be able to become Super Sonic 2."

Sonic fell down to his base form. "Man, that would be awesome. I also have other forms besides Super and Hyper. I've got several elemental forms I can use as well."

"I'm also able to access my Super Form without Chaos Emeralds, and mine is powerful as well" Shadow said. "The only downside there is that it's unstable and I use up my energy to quickly."

"I can't control Chaos Energy enough yet to go Super on my own even with the chaos Emeralds" Silver said. "The only time I've ever went Super is when Sonic transformed me himself."

"Well, I'm sure that with enough practice-" Sonic began, but then he sniffed the air. "Whoops, can't let my chili dogs overcook" he said as he rushed into the kitchen.

The group watched as he ran back. "Man, with all the fuss he's making, these ought to be pretty good" Goku said.

Tails shrugged. "It's a matter of opinion for the most part. Sonic loves them, I enjoy them, but not everyone does."

"Psshh, don't worry about Kakarot. He would eat anything as long as it fits in his mouth" Vegeta said. Goku just laughed sheepishly and put his hand behind his head.

"Ok, guys, here we are" Sonic said as he came out with two large trays stacked high with chili dogs. "These might be a bit odd, because I had to wing it with some of the ingredients, but they should still be good."

Not everyone was excited to see the chili dogs. To everyone save Sonic's company, they looked like hot dogs with soggy buns and mud on top. It was safe to say most everyone was hesitant to try one.

"Well, come on then, dig in" Sonic called over. As he started to eat, everyone else came over gradually to eat.

 **Aboveground Eggmanland…**

"Well, so this is the oh-so mighty fortress where you take over the world from. No wonder you've fallen every time you've tried."

Such was Frieza's critique when he saw the ruins that the malfunctioning cannon had left.

"Stop that, my genius IQ can build monuments to the ages, and the only reason it looks this way now is the same reason you aren't still sulking in the afterlife" Eggman countered.

"Let me put an end to this pathetic arguing" Nazo cut in. He stepped forward and held his hand above his head, summoning the Dark Emeralds from down in the bunker.

"Now then, let us turn this wasteland back into a real base" he said. "CHAOS CONTROL!"

A huge dome of dark energy radiated from Nazo's hand, spreading over every part of the scrapyard. Then, all the destruction that had been caused by the explosion reversed. Each pile of metal stacked into a building, or an Egg-Pawn, or something of the like. Nazo also made sure to focus Chaos Control in such a way to only make each object the way it was before Team Sonic's attack, leaving everyone in the group untouched by it.

Within a few short moments, Eggmanland had been restored to its former glory. The Egg-Paws were even still working on the unfinished zones. Once every single part of the park had been affected, Nazo lowered his hand, and transported the Dark Emeralds back into their containment chamber in the bunker lab.

"Well now. I must admit, this craftsmanship is quite impressive" Gero said. "However, an amusement park. Was that really the best design you could think of?"

"It may appear childish to an outsider, but the main idea is to use these designs to trap any intruders. These rides can become deadly traps, should I have them" Eggman said.

"Hmmph, you have no need for traps now that we are here. We can be much more effective than any faulty ferris wheel" Cell said. To prove his point, he fired and energy blast into the air which multiplied and spread. Upon detonation, the explosion was the size of 3 Eggmanlands.

"Very well, then I guess my base shall be getting an overhaul. But first off, we need to figure out our first move" Eggman said.

"I know what my first move is going to be" Frieza said. "I intend to give that putrid monkey a wakeup call. I say I track down someone close to him, and make sure he knows I was in contact with them."

"Now now, Frieza. That isn't the wisest move to make. We saw Goku match Majin Buu in their fight. Many of his loved ones rival him in power, or wield deadly techniques. You don't stand a chance against any of them yet" Cell said.

"Well, before you go, I have something that may help you" Eggman said. "The Dark Emeralds radiate massive amounts of dark energy. I have devised a serum made directly from the power of them. Should you ingest it, your powers should be temporarily amplified. Should that be enough for your vendetta?"

"Ah, an elixir of that magnitude should be most useful for us. You may be of an even greater intellect than I gave you credit for" Gero said.

"Enough chat, bring me that elixir so I can commence my revenge" Frieza said, impatiently.

Eggman had an Egg-Pawn fetch it from the bunker. It came back and presented Frieza with a glass vial filled with an egg sized portion of black liquid.

"Very well, let us test this Black Serum" Frieza said as he raised the vial to his lips.

 **In the far plains of Mobius…**

It had been almost a full day since Knuckles had left. At first, he had enjoyed the solidarity of the walk towards his island. However, the longer the walk had gone on, the more anxious he began to feel about his Master Emerald. From then, he began to use his powers of gliding to speed up the journey.

He knew two things. One, it was his duty to guard the Master Emerald with his life. He had already failed that once when he let Eggman split it into positive and negative halves. He could not let anything else happen to it.

The other thing was utility. He knew that the Master Emerald was an infinite source of energy. Of course, the energy it offered was weaker without its neutral balance, but it was still incredibly powerful.

Out of nowhere, he felt a tailwind boost him along. He felt his speed pick up, and saw the river which he knew to be only a few miles from the village that Sonic lived in. Angel Island wasn't far from there, so he was drawing near.

"Now, not too far from here. Then the Master Emerald will be safe again. Let's go" he said, and continued to fly for his home.

 **Capsule Corp…**

"Wow Sonic, I didn't take you as quite the cook. That was great!"

Such was Goku's praise after everyone had finished up their chili dogs. Everyone had liked them, surprisingly enough. Once they had gotten past the look, they were enjoyed around the room.

"Well, I may not cook very often, but chili dogs are the one thing I know how to whip up" Sonic said. "You like something, you learn about it."

"Fair enough. I've never had anything like that" Goku said.

"Yeah, they were really yummy" Goten added.

"Heheh, thanks everyone" Sonic said.

Everyone began to move around since dinner was over with. Bulma turned to Sonic's group. "Well, it isn't that late in the day yet. If you guys want to, you can explore the building and check it out. I know that Tails had an interest in our labs earlier, so you can check that out."

"Wow, thank you Bulma" Tails said. "It's down the hall and 2 stories down, right?"

"You've got it right" she affirmed.

"Ok, thanks again" Tails said, then walked towards the door.

Sonic, on the other hand, had no idea on where he wanted to go. He settled on exploring the building. So, he took off down the hall, looking in every room, but not stopping for more than a few seconds look in each open room. He made a few side tracks, though. He stopped for a quick clean in the showers, stopped to see Tails enjoying the labs, and saw Shadow doing, nothing. Just standing on the deck, facing over the rail.

After he had been exploring for a good fifteen minutes or so, he found a room unlike the others. He came to a stop in the doorway to a room which appeared to be an indoor paradise. A mini river, many trees and exotic flowers, and lighting that gave the room a nature green glow.

Sonic took a deep breath of the fresh air in the room, filling himself with the scent of the flowers. He walked into the room, taking it in. It was hard to believe that this entire room was indoors. He felt like he was in the woods near his house, basking in the fresh breeze.

He was walking through the room, soaking it in, but as he turned the corner around a rather thick tree…

"WHOA!" Sonic yelled as he leaned back to avoid having his head cut off as a blade came at him. He fell to his knees, breathing hard.

"Whoops, sorry Sonic" someone said. Sonic looked up and recognized him as Trunks, holding a sword.

"Sheesh, you might want to watch where you're swinging that thing, Trunks. I almost lost my head" Sonic said.

"My bad, I didn't think anyone would be coming in here" he apologized.

"It's no problem" Sonic said. He looked at the sword in Trunks' hands. He whistled. "Man, how did you get such a sweet blade at your age?" he asked.

"My friend Tapion gave it to me. He used it to fight this giant dragon thing, and gave it to me as a present when he left" he explained. "Not to brag, but I've gotten really good with it. I've been practicing with it a lot lately."

"Wow, you must be pretty good. You know, I've practiced a bit of swordsmanship myself" Sonic revealed.

"That's cool, but I bet that you don't have a sword as cool as mine" Trunks challenged.

Sonic smiled. "We'll see" he said simply. He held his hand above his head, and after a quick moment, there was a quick flash of light, a large blade fell into his hand, which he caught by the hilt.

He turned to Trunks with it. "Trunks, allow me to introduce you to Caliburn" he said.

"Wow, cool sword, Sonic" he said.

"Why thank you, my young fellow" Caliburn said.

"Wha, your sword can talk?!" Trunks exclaimed, stumbling backwards.

"Of course I can talk, I am unlike that petty blade that you wield in that I am imbued with life" Caliburn replied.

"I met Caliburn when someone called me to the world of Camelot, and he helped me fix the corruption in that world" Sonic explained.

"Wow, a magical sword. That's awesome Sonic" Trunks praised. "But can it do what mine can do?" With that, he turned around and sliced at the tree, leaving a fair sized gash in the trunk.

Sonic smirked and stepped forward. He took a deep breath, and with a swift motion, swung through the tree. For a moment, nothing happened. But then…

The tree completely separated from its base, and began to topple over. Sonic quickly ran around the side of the tree and braced himself against it. He wasn't quite strong enough to lift it, however, as large as it was. Luckily, Trunks came over to help, and placed the tree back on its trunk.

"Ok, Sonic, you win" Trunks said in awe. He would need to power up for his blade to cut through like that. "Man, and I thought my sword was-"

However, Trunks was interrupted when Vegeta burst into the room. He turned towards them and said "We need you two in the yard, now."

"Wait, what's going on here" Sonic questioned. However, he didn't expect Vegeta to respond by firing off a ki blast at him and telling him to "get moving" (goes to show how much he knows him).

Sonic sprinted ahead towards the yard, finding that everyone had already gathered there. Vegeta and Trunks followed close behind, and Tails came around the corner a quick moment later.

"Ok, guys, we've got a situation" Goku began telling the group. "I'm sensing massive energy coming this way. And from what I can feel, this guy is much stronger than Buu was."

"Yeah Dad, I can sense it too. This guy might be the strongest we've seen since Beerus left a few days ago" Gohan added in.

"Right, so, we need all the help that we can get right now. I'm sensing a lot of dark energy from whoever it is, so chances are that they aren't friendly" Goku said. He turned to Vegeta. "Vegeta, are you willing to come help us out?"

"I'm sure that a 'god' doesn't need the help of a mortal such as myself" Vegeta said.

"Oh, come on Vegeta" Goku said.

Vegeta gave a small smile. "Calm down there, Kakarot, I was only yanking your chain. You know that I never back down from a fight."

Goku sighed in relief. "Thanks Vegeta, it means a lot."

Gohan stepped up towards his dad. "I'll come too, Dad."

When Gohan did this, a young woman ran up out of the crowd. She then said "Gohan, you will be safe, right?"

"Don't worry, Videl, I'll make sure that I come home intact" Gohan responded.

A few more people stepped up, such as Piccolo, Tien, and #18. Then Goku turned towards Sonic and the gang.

"Well, do any of you want to come?" he asked them, surprising the group.

"Wait, what could we do to help. You guys have beat people who could destroy galaxies, so how are we going to match that?" Sonic asked.

"Well, for starters, I saw you and Shadow fuse together. In your 'weakened' Super Form, you were as strong as me and Vegeta when we fuse, for one. Also, I'm not the only one who's fought a god before, and unlike me, you've beaten one" Goku encouraged.

There was a moment of silence, and then…

"I'll come" Sonic, Shadow, and Silver said simultaneously. They all stepped towards Goku to stand with the rest of the fighters.

"Okay guys, no messing around. This source is powerful, and we've got to intercept it well before it reaches West City. Alright, let's go" Goku said.

"Yeah" the Z-Fighters said, and jumped into the air.

Sonic summoned the Super Emeralds and surrounded the three hedgehogs. He and Shadow manipulated the Emeralds' energy around them. All three hedgehogs burst into their Hyper Forms and flew up after the Z-Fighters. They flew with them, leaving afterimages behind.

Goku and Vegeta flew in the lead, the Hyper hedgehogs off to the side, and the bulk of the group behind. As they flew through the air, Goku turned towards Sonic's group. He called over to them, "Hey guys, I know that you can fly quite a bit faster than us. Why don't you go ahead to cut it off?"

"You sure Goku? You made this thing sound pretty strong" Hyper Sonic said.

"Don't worry, I think you guys are plenty strong enough for this" Goku reassured.

"Enough of this talk, let's just go" Hyper Shadow said.

"Alright guys, here we go" Hyper Sonic said. All three of them curled up into spin charge, then rocketed forward at a nearly invisible speed.

 **Far ahead of the group…**

The three all uncurled in midair after they had traveled a long ways ahead. The three surveyed the area around them, not sensing anyone nearby.

"So, where is this guy who had the others so scared" Hyper Silver asked.

"I assume you are talking about me?" a voice above them said.

All three of them whipped their heads around and looked up. They all separated and prepped themselves for a fight.

A humanoid white lizard floated down between them. His eyes were cold, and he was surrounding by a sheen of dark purple energy, as well as a faint black aura.

Hyper Shadow gasped. "Sonic do you feel that?" he asked.

Hyper Sonic felt it. He nodded then said "Yeah, I feel it. This guy is filled with negative Chaos energy."

The being floating between them looked slightly surprised. "Ah, so this is the infamous Sonic the Hedgehog, eh? Hmmph, doesn't look like much" he said.

"How do you know my name, you mutated creep?" Hyper Sonic challenged. Then he spun to narrowly avoid a dark purple thin beam of energy fired at him from the lizard man.

"My name is Frieza, you rat, and I know of you because your enemies Robotnik and Nazo freed me from the next realm."

At this, both Sonic and Shadow felt fear inside. Even though it was only said in passing, Frieza had confirmed one of their worst fears. Nazo had indeed been revived. And not only that, he, Eggman, and this Frieza character were in league with each other.

Hyper Sonic took a deep breathe, then looked Frieza dead in the eye. "Enough of this, Frieza. Goku told me that you pose a threat to the world, and we're here to-"

"Goku, you're partnered with that monkey? Oh, for that, I'll be doubly glad to take you out, if only to make him squirm as his friends die" Frieza interrupted.

"If you want a fight, you only had to ask" Hyper Shadow said, and opened his attack with a cluster of Chaos Spears.

Frieza faced them as they came on, and deflected each one with a single finger. Hyper Shadow then launched himself at Frieza in a spin dash.

Frieza looked at the oncoming Hyper Shadow with a pitiful look. As he drew near, Frieza readied his hand. Just before he hit, Frieza launched a simple chop, sending Shadow crashing into the ground.

"Shadow!" Hyper Sonic cried out. He curled up and begun a spin charge, collecting energy. His energy then crystalized on him as a shell. He got into a power stance. "Ready…" he said.

Frieza stared down Hyper Sonic. He then did another chop in the air, this time sending out a diagonal blade of energy with it.

Hyper Sonic waited as it drew nearer and nearer. Just before it struck, he shouted "GO!" and vanished.

"What the-" Frieza began, but was interrupted when Sonic slammed into him from the side. He staggered a bit, and just as he regained his balance, Sonic struck him from beneath, and then again in his chest. Each blow was a major annoyance to Frieza, however, they weren't much more than that.

"That's it!" Frieza said. He turned around and smacked Hyper Sonic with his tail as he came at him again. This time, he was knocked into the side of a mountain, sending fissures through the entire face of the mountain.

"Weaklings" Frieza scoffed. "Two down and one to go."

Frieza turned around to face Hyper Silver, but was surprised with the sight that met him.

Silver was levitating above him a massive ball of stones almost the size of the mountain Sonic had crashed into.

"Alright Frieza, this ends here!" Hyper Silver shouted, and followed up by launching the rock sphere straight towards Frieza. He then followed it up by charging the ball full of psychokinetic force, making it fly towards him at a much higher speed.

The ball connected with Frieza and exploded with huge force. Each boulder flew in different directions, and the air filled with dust.

"And that's that" Hyper Silver said with a tone of finality. However, that's the last thing he remembered, because at that moment, something hit him so hard be blacked out.

"This wasn't even worth the time. Even their strongest techniques didn't faze me" said a perfectly fine Frieza. "As the dust had cleared, he had decided to end the fight by delivering a single full-power punch to Silver's stomach.

"Now then, time to clean up the mess" Frieza said. He lifted a finger above his head and began to prepare his Death Ball attack. The energy grew larger rapidly larger, and stopped when the ball was the size of a small house. "Goodbye, you pathetic hedgehogs" he screamed and readied the Death Ball.

Suddenly, two massive pillars of light erupted from the surface, climbing into the sky. From the mountain and the ground, two figures rose up. Both pillars of light dissipated, leaving the two figures shrouded in a large aura of multicolored energy.

"You may have had the edge on us before, Frieza, but we won't let that happen again" Hyper Sonic shouted.

"You may have beat us separately, but our powers combined are unmatched" Hyper Shadow added.

The two Hyper hedgehogs faced each other. "Ready Shadow?" Hyper Sonic said.

"You bet, Sonic" Hyper Shadow responded.

"CHAOS CONTROL" the duo shouted, and their two energies merged. Both lights converged into a single much brighter force. An energy wave so power rippled through the air that it made Frieza lose his focus on the Death Ball, and it vanished.

"What, what is this?" Frieza asked. He fired an energy wave straight towards the light source. It disappeared inside, but there was no sign of an impact. Then, a turquoise energy sphere flew at Frieza at extraordinary speed. It struck Frieza into the ground before he could react. However, he flew right back up, more enraged than ever.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Frieza screamed, and launched himself at the light. However, as he drew near, a figure flew out to meet him.

Hyper Shadic got up close and personal to Frieza and placed his hand in front of him. This surprised Frieza so much, he stopped in his tracks. Shadic just smirked at Frieza and kept his hand there.

"What are you-" Frieza began, but then felt as his dark energy left his body. "How-" he began again, but was stopped as Hyper Shadic delivered a kick so hard to Frieza's gut that he spat up blood. He then elbow dropped Frieza into the ground.

Frieza stared up at Hyper Shadic, helpless, as he saw him ready another of the turquoise energy blasts. He tried to move, but was unable to even curl a finger.

"Now, Chaos Wind" Hyper Shadic shouted as he launched his attack. The blast was fired directly at Frieza, and charged with enough power to shatter a mountain.

Frieza was close to his demise as he gazed at the oncoming energy ball. However, just as it reached him, he was cloaked in some weird force that made the space around him bend. When it stopped, he was back in Eggmanland, lying on the ground. He then saw Nazo step in front of him and deflect the energy blast that had been transported as well.

"Well, you have utterly failed in your attempt in revenge" were the first words out of Nazo's mouth. "However, I expect a full report of any gained reconnaissance when you have healed."

After hearing this, Frieza, being exhausted, passed out.

 **Back at the fight scene…**

"Where did he go?" Hyper Shadic wondered. He just witnessed his enemy disappear into thin air, when he was at his mercy and powerless. He took a deep breath and defused and landed, reverting to basic Sonic and Shadow. Shadow walked over and picked Silver up out of the crater that his body had made.

They were both breathing hard from their fight, and struggling to stay on their feet. Luckily, moments later, they heard Goku shouting "Hey guys" down at them.

"Hey Goku" Sonic called up as best he could. He then waited for the group to hand before he continued. "Hey, we got to talk. We've, huff, been through the mill here, and we got some bad news."

Goku took on a puzzled look. "What is it?" he asked.

"First, our worries were correct. Nazo is back" Sonic said. This triggered an outbreak of muttering among the group. They had all heard about Nazo from Sonic, and realized how bad this was.

However, Gohan noticed something. "Sonic, you said that Nazo being back was your _first_ news. What's next?"

"Well, we managed to beat the guy who was coming, but I think that he's still out there. He somehow escaped using Chaos Control" Sonic began.

"Well, at least he's down for now. Who was this guy?" Goku asked.

"I had never seen anything like him before. He's somehow in league with Eggman, and I think that's how he was so powerful. He was using dark Chaos energy as a booster" Sonic rambled on. Then Goku's question registered. "But we did get a name out of him."

"So what was his name?" Gohan asked.

"It was really weird. He called himself Frieza" Sonic said.

"FRIEZA?!" the entire group shouted.

"What, do you know this guy?" Sonic asked.

Goku turned to Sonic. "Let's just say, this whole situation that we're in just got a whole lot worse."

 **And there we have it, the end of Chapter 16. Boy, this day just seems to be dragging on for the group, huh? Eggman's new Black Serum can have some serious power in it, so we can expect to see it again in the future.** **I also brought back Hyper Shadic's ability to drain negative Chaos energy from his opponents. Anyways, for everyone reading the story, I'm hoping you're enjoying it so far. I'll try to keep the quality of my chapters up and as frequent as I can. Anyways, I'll see you again in Chapter 17!**


	17. Weary Warriors

**I am so sorry for the long wait, everyone. Luckily, Christmas arrived and my family blessed me with a brand new laptop, on which I can continue the story. Thank you all for being patient with me, and now, on with the story!**

* * *

Wastelands...

* * *

"Wait, that was _Frieza_ we just fought?" Sonic yelled as Goku had explained who Frieza was.

Goku nodded. "Yeah, and the fact that he was powerful enough to match your guys' Hyper Forms is really bad news. Last time we fought, Frieza was only just shy as powerful as my Super Saiyan transformation back then. You guys in that form, are much more powerful than that."

"Well, we actually felt some Chaos Energy on him" Shadow said. "It looked like he had been able to harness it as a multiplier. Once we siphoned it off as Shadic, he couldn't hold a candle to us."

"But, I thought that you guys were the only ones who knew how to control Chaos Energy" Goku said.

Sonic grunted and twinged in pain, feeling the side effects of his recent battle. "Yeah, the news doesn't get much better. Apparently, Frieza had some sort of alliance with Eggman and Nazo. Nazo is made of Negative Chaos Energy, and Eggman knows enough about it that a lot of his machines can use it."

Vegeta frowned. "So, from the sound of it, the tyrant who enslaved me for so many years has teamed up with a fat old scientist and another hedgehog made of dark energy, so now he has ways to artificially boost his power beyond normal limits?" he summarized.

Shadow nodded. "Yes, with access to Eggman's knowledge and equipment, and Nazo's power, this Frieza character could make a very formidable foe."

"HA, you amuse me, hedgehog" Vegeta laughed. "No matter how big of a boost he would get, I would still be able to crush him, and this Nazo you speak of with him."

"You know what has me confused?" Goku asked. "How is Frieza even alive? We would know if the Dragon Balls had been summoned, so it wasn't that way."

"Yeah, fair point" Piccolo said. "Whatever happened when the dimensional walls breached, it didn't touch Otherworld, and indeed the Dragon Balls haven't been gathered. It seems impossible that he was here."

"Hey guys, sorry to cut in," Sonic began, "but is there any chance we can continue this discussion at Capsule Corp. Me and Shadow are pretty worn out, and Silver won't recover very well lying in a wasteland."

"Alright Sonic, I understand what you are saying" Goku said. He pulled a single Senzu Bean from a pouch on his waist and broke it in half. "Here, catch you two" he called as he tossed half to each Sonic and Shadow.

They each reached out and caught them. "What is this?" Shadow asked.

"It's called a Senzu Bean. It's sort of a super medicine from our Earth. Eat one, and your wounds close, you feel less fatigued, and you get a lot of your energy back" Goku explained the effects. "It may be a bit less potent considering you each have only half, but we just need to get you guys back, and they should still be more than enough."

"Alright, down the hatch" Sonic said as he popped his half into his mouth. Shadow followed suite and ate his bean.

They chewed for a few seconds, then swallowed. After a second, Sonic's eyes bugged a bit and he sprang up. "Wow, I feel great!" he cheered.

Shadow stood up in a more controlled fashion than Sonic, brushing off his legs as he stood up. "That certainly did the trick."

Goku picked up Silver and prepared to take off. He looked at Sonic and Shadow and asked "Are you guys ready?"

The duo responded by summoning a Super Emerald and ascending to their Super Forms.

"Alright, let's head home."

* * *

Knothole...

* * *

If the tree cover in the Great Forest hadn't been so thick, many of the Freedom Fighters may have noticed the red echidna Knuckles flying in, supporting the Master Emerald on his back as he searched for a spot to land.

"Question is, where am I going to keep this thing?" Knuckles asked himself. The Master Emerald wasn't something you hid in a sock drawer to keep it safe. It needed respect as well as protection.

Knuckles looked over to his right and saw a decent sized clearing, only a little ways away from the Knothole base camp.

As Knuckles touched down in the clearing, he sensed footsteps behind him. In a swift motion, he placed the Emerald on the ground, then twisted around with his fists ready, but stopped as soon as he saw who it was.

"You know, you shouldn't sneak up on my like that, Sally" he said, 'sheathing' his spiked fists. "You're lucky, I don't usually look before I strike."

"Please, with all the training I've had, you would be lucky if you only missed me" Sally said back, walking over to check out the Emerald. "So this is the famous gem with limitless power, huh?"

"Yeah, this is the Master Emerald. Well, the positive half anyways" Knuckles said. "Hey, how did you know I would be coming here?"

"I happened to be on patrol, and the sun caught that emerald and almost blinded me" Sally said. "Is everything supposed to still look like it's glowing?" she said, describing the impact the sharp glare had left on her eyes.

Knuckles laughed, but he didn't chuckle. "Sorry, this clearing just seemed like the right place to set this thing down at, and I didn't consider the reflection catching anyone off guard."

Sally rubbed her eyes again then looked up. "Why out here? It's a few minutes away from Knothole, wouldn't it be safer there?"

"Not with what i have in mind. There isn't enough space there, while out here, that's a different story."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Sally asked.

"Just stand back, and watch me work" Knuckles replied, picking up the Emerald and carrying it to the center of the clearing. He set it down, took a few steps back, and held his arms out.

The Master Emerald began to glow, and a small tremor ran through the ground, making the trees sway and Sally stagger. Dust began to kick up from the surrounding land around the Emerald.

Energy began to flow between Knuckles and the Master Emerald as the reaction grew larger. The Emerald began to glow much more brightly, to the point where Sally looked away and Freedom Fighters in Kknothole were begining to notice it. Dust plumed into the air as a larger tremor ran through the ground.

Within the dust, Knuckles and the Master Emerald appeared to rise into the air. As they rose further, the dust increased, but the ground shook less violently and the glow was reduced.

The reaction stopped altogether as the dust began to settle. As it floated towards the ground, and amazing sight was revealed.

In the clearing, a large monument had appeared, a large, round pyramid, made of yellowish stone, with a platform at the top sort of the monument were seven pillars, made of the same material as the rest of it, and each ending in a sharp point.

On the top, Knuckles kneeled on the ground, his energy exhausted. The Master Emerald itself was inside of a pedestal placed in the center.

"Well, I would say, that this, worked out, fine" Knuckles panted.

He stood up and looked at his handiwork, admiring his job. The new temple was almost a perfect clone of the one that sat atop Angel Island, and he figured that the Master Emerald would be safe here.

He looked up and saw a shield visible to his eyes only. It was made of the Master Emerald's inner energy, a barrier that kept anyone with malicious intent from coming within several yards of the shrine.

"Hey Knuckles, you done up there so we can head back?" Sally called out.

"Actually, I'm going to stay here for a bit, but you feel free to go back" Knuckles replied.

Sally nodded and turned to walk away. Knuckles too turned around to go take a nap next to the Emerald, but then something caught his eye.

"Hmm?" he grunted as he jumped down off the shrine. He landed on the ground and pulled an object out of the ground.

"What is this?" Knuckles held a blue gem in his hand. "It looks, feels, and even exudes the same energy as a Master Emerald Shard does."

The blue, diamond shaped gem, unbeknownst to the echidna, was the exact same shape as Shadow's Chaos Shard.

* * *

Eggmanland...

* * *

Frieza's eyes shot open as he regained consciousness. He felt himself floating in a tank of green, clear liquid, which he recognized as the same sort of healing machine his army had used in the past.

With a wave of energy, Frieza burst the tank, shattering the glass and causing the fluid to slide out onto the floor. Frieza stood up and stepped out from the wreckage, surveying his surroundings. He appeared to be in a long corridor, with metal surfaces, and healing tanks from one end to another.

With a glance out of the window, Frieza recognized his surroundings as none other than Eggmanland, yet it didn't look remotely like it had previously.

"Well, the old man works fast" Frieza commented as he looked upon what now looked less like an amusement park and more like a futuristic war compound. Factories, bunkers, and warehouses stretch for miles, as well as several other buildings. Towering over everything else, in the center of the compound, there was a massive dark tower, which glowed with white lights, the contrast of black and white making it appear quite sinister, just enough to make Frieza comfortable with it.

"You know, I may be made out of the purest darkness and most chaotic energy known," a hard voice said behind him, "but at least I have the common decency to use the 'open hatch' button rather than make a mess of it."

Nazo was revealed to be standing in the doorway to the room, glaring at the tyrant from across the way. Frieza looked back and sneered. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were the maid here as well, my apologies for making your job harder."

Before Frieza could blink, Nazo stood before him, gripping his wrist so tightly that Frieza was genuinely believing he was going to rip it off.

"You would do well to learn your place, and not talk back to your superiors" Nazo said in a tone that conveyed business. He released Frieza's hand then sent out a small burst of energy that knocked the tyrant flat on his back.

"How dare you" Frieza thought as he was openly humiliated by the red hedgehog in front of him. Even when Shadic had struck him down, he hadn't felt this helpless. Nazo didn't keep Frieza back, he let him try then proved how effortless it was to stop him.

Nazo looked pitifully at Frieza and said "Dr. Eggman would like for you to explain what you observed during your failed assault on Sonic, Shadow, and that third one. Report to the main base within the next half hour." Nazo then disappeared in a flash of dark light.

Frieza rubbed his wrist, furious with Nazo, but powerless to do anything, as even his 100% power would not be enough to strike Nazo.

"Superior my tail" Frieza muttered as he stood up to walk out.

* * *

Capsule Corporation...

* * *

The sun was setting as Sonic and Shadow set down on the ground, falling to their base forms and breathing hard. The energy that they had gained from the Senzu Bean had abandoned them a while back, making the flight very tough.

"Next time I'm invited for an emergency flight then fight, remind me to say no" Sonic said.

"I'm not one to agree with you much, but yeah, that was a bit much" Shadow replied.

Goku looked at Vegeta. "See Vegeta, they get along, and they're about as big of rivals as they can be."

"Oh shut up you clown" Vegeta said. "We don't get along, because we're Saiyans. Well, I am, I'm not so sure about you anymore."

Goku glanced at Vegeta and looked him in the eye. A spark of fiery energy traveled up his body, his eyes and hair both glowing red for a brief moment.

Vegeta stumbled backwards with his fists up. Goku chuckled as the brief ascension stopped, glad he had gotten that reaction out of Vegeta.

"Oh, stop monkeying around" Vegeta spat.

"I can't monkey around anymore, Vegeta. Remember, I lost my tail _years_ ago, remember?" Goku jokingly responded, eliciting a laugh from everyone except Vegeta, who had nothing to stay, so he walked away towards the main house, which made the group laugh harder.

Sonic chuckled at the situation too, then groaned as his body made him lie down. "Boy, I don't even know how I'm going to get back tonight."

"What do you mean, get back?" Gohan asked. "We're already here."

"Yeah, but I can't stay the night here" Sonic said. "I've got to get back to Knothole tonight, I don't want Sally to worry where me and Tails went."

"Ah" Gohan understood. "but before you go, you have to tell us something."

"What?" Sonic asked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Sonic, we need you to tell us everything you know about Nazo and Chaos Energy" Gohan said. "We need to know exactly what we're going up against here."

"Alright Gohan, sure. But can we at least head to the living room or something, because my body is killing me" Sonic said.

"Allow me" Shadow said, stepping forward. He lifted his hand, and with a bright flash, they all appeared in the living room.

"Wow, nice job Shadow, that was fast" Goku complimented.

"Yeah" Gohan said, then turning to Sonic. "Well Sonic, go ahead and sit down, then you can start."

Sonic nodded before easing himself onto the couch, grunting as he settled down. Shadow leaned against the wall, and Goku layed Silver down on another couch to rest as the rest of the Z-Fighters took their seats.

Sonic looked around at the group. "Alright, I can tell you everything I know about Chaos energy and Nazo, but you may not like what you here" he said.

Sonic sighed as he began. "You see, while the prominent powerful force in your guy's' world is _ki_ , in our world it's called Chaos. we still have life energy, yet it is not nearly as harnessable as Chaos. Even though Chaos Energy comes mainly from the Chaos Emeralds, it exists everywhere in our world, yet most of it is not concentrated enough to be sensed or utilized."

"As I have said, Chaos Energy is a form of powerful, yet highly unstable energy. It can be difficult to learn how to manipulate it as you wish, and can always be dangerous. It took me years to learn how to become competent with controlling it, and for the longest time, I required lots of extra energy to use my Super Transformation in the form on Power Rings. They scattered throughout Mobius, and while in my early days even one could boost me to greater powers, I needed dozens to support my Super Form for more than a minute."

"There are fairly few reservoirs of Chaos Energy in a usable state, basically limiting to the Chaos, Super, and Master Emeralds. Believe me, if you thought my basic Super Form with the Chaos emeralds was strong, you have no idea what they could do. One time, Eggman harnessed all seven Emeralds, and split the planet apart, awakening a being in the core called Dark Gaia, a prophetic apocalyptic being who it was said when he would awaken, he would obliterate the planet. This effort drained the Chaos emeralds to the point where they basically became paperweights, so they aren't without their weaknesses."

"Chaos Energy replenishes itself over time. We have needed to restore the Emeralds naturally on many occasions, but if we gave them about a year, they would fully charge again. It's impossible to destroy Chaos Energy, and anything that attempts something of the kind would be catastrophic. If someone were to attempt to destroy a Chaos Emerald, the resulting reaction could probably take out the solar system."

Sonic looked over at Shadow. "You mind picking up here, you know more about what it can do than me, and I've already explained what it is."

Shadow nodded and took a seat beside Sonic. "Sonic has been accurate in what he has said so far. I myself was created, interwoven with Chaos Energy. Chaos is my life force, in a way, so I know much about it. Chaos Energy can go far beyond pure power and destruction. one technique me and Sonic have each mastered is called Chaos Control. Chaos Control harnesses Chaos Energy to manipulate time and space. It can be used to teleport, slow time, or in extreme cases, time travel or, as it happened to us, enter Parallel Realities or alternate dimensions."

"Goku, you one expressed that you found Chaos Energy to be unlike anything you've ever felt, an energy, that even when concentrated into an attack far beneath your level, still harms you. This is because Chaos isn't just a power, it's a Force of Nature, and a unique one at that. _Ki_ is similar to a 'safe' form of Chaos Energy, an innate power that can be harnessed for abilities. The difference is, Chaos is more extreme, in it's dangers, and powers. We have learned to use it, yet while it is learned, it shows every sign of not being meant to be learned how to manipulate" Shadow said.

Sonic nodded beside him. "Yeah, the first time I went Super, it almost felt like my soul was on fire, and that was after a long time of close contact with the Emeralds."

Sonic and Shadow paused to let their explanation sink in. The majority of the group was shocked by this in-depth description. They had never expected it to be what they had made out to be, and a few of them were half hoping for them to shout out April Fools and say it wasn't nearly that bad.

Sonic cracked his knuckles. "Now, you said you also wanted to learn about Nazo as well. I hope that this doesn't overload you. I know that much of your universe is stronger than ours, but this guy is still no pushover."

"Nazo was created from the negative energies of the world, all gathering into the Master Emerald. Once the Master emerald had caught all of the dark signals it could, they leaked out, into the being known as Nazo."

"Even in the beginning, in his weakest state, Nazo was one of the most powerful foes I had ever fought. I could do almost nothing in the beginning. I could outspeed him, but my attacks did almost nothing, and he had this insane healing power, where any wound he got would be healed in a matter of seconds. It wasn't until Tails..." Sonic trailed off, not wanting to talk about that part. "I mean, it wasn't until I went Super before I could fight him for real, and even then, he could still deliver critical attacks to me, even when Shadow went Super and joined me."

Gohan and Piccolo both noticed Sonic's redirect, but were too focused on what he was saying to mention it.

Sonic looked down. "Nazo warped himself, the Chaos Emeralds, and the Master Emerald to Angel Island. When he was there, it got horrible. Performing a ritual with the Master Emerald, he somehow absorbed the entirety of the negative energy in the Chaos Emeralds, transforming into a new form. He went from looking a bit like Silver with fins on his back to this, demon" Sonic shivered remembering that first moment when he transformed, and the sense of being helpless that he felt.

He shook it off. "Afterwords, he was more violent, and much, MUCH more powerful. He said he was far above one of the Gods of Destruction in our world, Chaos. And he was, because even our most powerful attacks in our Super forms weren't enough to even make him work for it. Even Shadow..." he started, looking at Shadow to check.

Shadow took over this part. He lifted an arm up to show off the gold band on his wrist. "These are my inhibitor rings. What you see of me mostly is nothing compared to what I can do without them, because the regulate my power, preventing me from using too much at once. When Nazo knocked me back, I took them off. The power overflowed within em, and I charged Nazo and unleashed my ultimate attack, yet it didn't even phase him. He proceeded to blast me and Sonic into the ground.

"Then, somehow, we connected, with each other, and the Emeralds. For the rest of our fight, instinct took over. Me and Shadow somehow performed the ritual to make the Chaos Emeralds ascend to Super Emeralds, and then we transformed into our Hyper Forms. WE synchronized, and somehow, we linked ourselves with Chaos Control, fusing into Shadic for the first time."

"But even then, we only had a slight advantage over Nazo. We has superior speed, as well as lots of power, but he had his protection, healing, and his own power to counter with. And it didn't stop there. He gained even more power by absorbing the negative energy from the Super Emeralds as well, becoming far more powerful than we were. We only won the battle when we used our special power of removing negative Chaos energy from others to weaken him until he could be obliterated."

"But now, he's back, and with access to Emeralds that are made of pure dark energy, he's probably stronger than ever. That's about all we have to say" Sonic finished.

If the group had been struck dumb by Sonic's explanation on Chaos Energy, the tale of Nazo left them in dead shock. The group processed the information slowly as Sonic fell silent.

Gohan realized the level of threat that Nazo could pose. He had felt a bit of Hyper Shadic's power when he fought Frieza, and it was far above his own. The only person they had who he knew could beat Nazo was his father, and a few days ago, before Beerus came to Earth, even that wouldn't be a certainty.

"Thanks Sonic" Gohan said. "You were right, we didn't like what we heard. But at least now we know more about what powers we have and are fighting, and what we are up against."

"Yeah, the only hope that Nazo can't use the Black Emerald for his powers. He may be made from the planet's negative energy, but he didn't harness the Master Emerald last time. Maybe he'll still be stuck at the same power" Sonic said.

"Ah hope, such a futile and pointless thing" a new voice echoed throughout the room.

Sonic and Shadow were on their feet, wincing at their aching bodies, but ignoring it, as their hearts were racing at the sound of the voice the hadn't heard in years.

Goku looked around warily, and Gohan, Piccolo, and a few of the others also were up and looking around.

"Quite a delightful summary, I must say. I'm surprised you can remember our little battle so well" the voice echoed through again.

Sonic gritted his teeth. "Yeah, I remember that nightmare where a chili dog ate me also, but that's not because I enjoyed it. Still hiding in the shadows, huh?"

Gohan gasped as he pieced the voice and Sonic's responses together. "Sonic, are you meaning to tell me, that that's-" Gohan stopped as everyone in the room froze and looked behind Gohan. Gohan himself froze when he felt a gust behind behind him, and an impossibly high power level came within his scope of senses.

Gohan sprang through the air, twisting and landing next to Sonic and Shadow. The spot by where he had just stood was now occupied by a red figure, a spiked crown on his head, two mandible-like extensions beneath, wing-like structures on his back, and cruel purple eyes that inspired a sense of darkness.

Nazo laughed. "Twitchy little thing, aren't you?"

Gohan clenched his fists. "I'm battle ready, there's a difference."

Nazo grinned maliciously. A split second later, he was standing where gohan was and Gohan was sailing out of the window. Luckily he caught himself just outside the window and righted himself.

"How battle ready can you be if you were struck by a slow attack like that?" Nazo taunted.

Sonic and Shadow too sprang away and simultaneously launched Sonic Wind and Chaos Spear at Nazo. Each one struck Nazo directly, yet he didn't move or flinch as they connected.

He looked pitifully at both Sonic and Shadow. "Are we seriously going to do this right now?" he asked sarcastically.

Sonic clenched his fists and stared Nazo down. "What are you doing here, Nazo?"

Nazo looked at him with contempt. "So, you really that anxious to get to business, Sonic? Well in that case, I'm here to give you a warning."

"What?" Shadow asked.

Nazo turned with a maniacal look in his eyes. "Yes, I'm here to give you a warning against attempting to fight back against us."

"And what if we refuse to heed your advice, _o great wise one_?" Sonic asked sarcastically.

Nazo smiled when Sonic said this. "I'm afraid I must, insist" he said, in a tone that warned Sonic what would happen next.

Sonic gasped. "Look out everyone" he warned, but it was too late.

Sonic remembered Nazo disappearing, darkness filling the room, and explosive shot hitting him, pain, then everything went black.

* * *

 **Decided to give you guys the gift of a longer chapter as an apology. I'm back in action, guys, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know it was a bit of a slow chapter, but this was how this chapter was going to continue anyways, so I'm sorry that I couldn't return with an epic fight. But anyways, Joined Worlds is back, and please R &R!**


	18. Results of Nazo

**Happy New Years! Holiday upload, here we go!**

* * *

 **Flashback…**

* * *

"For the last moments of your life, you may refer to me as, Perfect Nazo!"

Sonic, Shadow, Tails, and Knuckles stood before the shrine to the Master Emerald, frozen in place. Each stared down Nazo, in his new form, an entity of pure darkness. The Chaos Emerald's glow had dimmed from Nazo's ritual, having absorbed energy from them.

"I've had enough of this" Sonic yelled defiantly, bursting into his Super Form. "I will not let you do this any longer" he yelled once more, dashing towards Nazo.

"Sonic!" Tails and Knuckles called out.

"You're mine, Nazo!" he said, striking Nazo dead in the forehead, full force, yet Nazo didn't flinch or blink as he took it. Nazo smirked.

"What the-" Super Sonic said, launching a kick at Nazo, who teleported and dodged it effortlessly.

Nazo reappeared further up in the air, prompting Super Sonic to ascend towards him.

"Okay, try this on for size" he cried out, charging a Spin Dash and tearing off at Nazo.

With another smirk, Nazo held out a single hand, catching Super Sonic in place and grasping him by the throat. Sonic choked and sputtered as he kicked Nazo multiple times, trying to escape. Nazo charged energy into his hand and blasted Sonic point blank towards the ground.

Sonic meteored towards Angel Island, his golden glow disappearing as he fell almost unconscious. He was narrowly caught by an ascending Super Shadow.

"Hmmph, pathetic" Super Shadow said, dropping Sonic to the ground. He flew until he was level with Nazo. "Now, feel the Ultimate power" he declared, firing a massive Chaos Spear at the darkened being.

Nazo held one finger out, and deflected the Chaos Spear with only a slight twitch as it drew near.

Super Shadow fired three more Chaos Spears at Nazo, then proceeded to use Chaos Control to move towards him unnoticed.

Nazo easily deflected each spear again, but as he finished, Shadow reappeared beneath him and delivered a powerful upwards kick to Nazo's jaw. Nazo's head was knocked backwards, but he easily put it back in place, pushing Shadow's foot out of the way with it.

Nazo cracked his neck to the left, then right. Then, quick as lightning, he held out his hand and blasted Shadow to the ground with dark energy. Shadow hit hard, forming a crater several meters long, and sending a plume of dust into the air.

Suddenly, the dust was dispersed as a massive upsurge of red energy exploded from the crater. Super Shadow rose from the crater, glowing with more energy than he ever had before, his Inhibitor Rings removed.

"Chaos-" Super Shadow said, teleporting to Nazo. He gripped him by the throat, and teleported again, slamming him into the ground.

"BLAST!" he bellowed, unleashing a devastating wave of energy, completely disintegrating the surrounding land and plant life. The red explosion lit up the entire island and the surface was bathed in red light for hundreds of miles.

As the glow faded, Shadow was revealed to be standing in the trench he had created, breathing hard and his Inhibitor Rings reapplying themselves to his wrists. Nazo was nowhere to be found.

"Heh heh" Shadow laughed raggedly. "That'll teach him."

Shadow turned around, and froze in dead shock. Nazo was right behind him, looking completely unfazed and even a little bored.

For the first time in his life, Shadow felt fear. "Damn, what the hell _are_ you?!"

Nazo looked him dead in the eye, and said " _I_ am the Ultimate Life Form!"

Nazo struck Shadow in the stomach, causing him to cough up blood. This was followed up by Nazo kicking Shadow into the air, knocking his head so far back it almost broke his neck, and Nazo finished it by teleporting ahead of Shadow and kicking him straight at the battered Sonic, colliding directly and causing them to become buried within the earth.

Tails and Knuckles looked on in fear, as the two toughest fighters on their planet had been taken down effortlessly. Now that they were down, they knew that is was all over. The planet was doomed.

* * *

 **Present…**

* * *

The only fighter left standing surveyed the wreckage. The room was destroyed, the floor almost ready to cave in. Everyone else was unconscious within the ruined room, Silver was lucky to still be in one piece, and Nazo had vanished.

Goku floated outside the room, catching his breath. He had been the only one to not have gone down immediately when Nazo had attacked. Sonic had raised the alarm as quick as he could, but it was in vain. Sonic and Shadow had gone down in less than a second, Gohan, Piccolo, Tien, and 18 went next. Vegeta had rushed up when he heard the commotion, yet he hardly fared better than the others.

With his newfound godly _ki_ , he had only been able to hold his own against Nazo. His strength had been very great. He was not on the same level as Beerus, but he was almost tied with Goku himself. Goku's skills, strength, and stamina may have been greater, yet Nazo was faster and had a very tough skin, making it harder to harm him. The worst part, and the deciding factor or it, was Nazo's abilities to manipulate Chaos Energy. Each blast felt like it would disintegrate that part of him, down to his very soul, and even though it didn't, it made him feel severe pain.

Eventually Goku got off a small Spirit Bomb on Nazo, yet surprisingly, it only briefly stunned him. However, Nazo apparently took that as a cue to leave, as after recovering, he used the cover of a swarm of Chaos Energy to teleport out of there.

Goku flinched as the Chaos wounds began to take a toll. He floated to to ground inside the ruined room, yet he had no sooner landed than he heard hurried footsteps outside of the room. Appearing in the doorway were Chi-Chi, Bulma, Goten, Trunks, Tails, Krillin, and Yamcha, all looking in on the wreckage and carnage in shock.

"Gohan!" Chi-Chi cried out, rushing to the fallen body, and cradling it tightly.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Goten cried, rushing over and hugging Goku tightly.

Goku chuckled weakly. "Yeah, but I may not be much longer if you keep squeezing me so hard."

"Dad/Vegeta!" Trunks and Bulma cried out, running to the side of the unconscious Saiyan Prince.

"Sonic, Shadow! Please be alright" Tails said, flying over to Sonic and checking his vitals.

Krillin and Yamcha each stepped into the room, surveying the damage, and worrying for their friends.

"Geez, what happened in here?" Yamcha asked. "Beerus didn't come pay a surprise visit again, did he?"

"No" Goku breathed out. He grunted again, then a bit louder, he said "Nazo came here."

"Wait, wasn't Nazo that nearly omnipotent being made of dark energy that Sonic described?" Krillin asked with fear in his voice.

Goku nodded. "Yeah, and he gave me a run for my money. Sonic and Shadow weren't exaggerating about his power. If he hadn't been able to use Chaos Energy, I might have been able to defeat him, but instead, I just fought him until he left, almost like he was bored of me. My Spirit Bomb barely scathed him."

"No way? The Spirit Bomb is supposed to be more effective the darker a being its aimed at, yet it didn't even scratch him?!" Yamcha asked.

Goku grunted as he shrugged Goten off of him and sat down. "Not that it didn't phase him, but considering how dark he was, I'm very surprised it didn't do more. He got hit, and he was stunned for a moment, he definitely was hurt by it, but it was all very minor."

Tails sat by Sonic, shaking. "I-I-I-I c-c-c-can't bel-l-lieve N-N-N-N-Nazo is r-r-r-r-r-really b-b-b-back."

Videl walked over from Gohan's side. "What's wrong, Tails? Are you sick or something? You look like you're having a seizure."

"He's not sick, he's just one of the only people in here who know what Nazo can do and what him being back means" a scratchy voice said.

Every eye in the room shot over to the source of the voice, looking for who had spoken.

Sonic still lied on the floor, but he had one eye cracked open and was conscious enough to speak.

"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed, hugging his best friend tightly.

"Hey, Tails. Ah, not too tightly, my ribs, my ribs" Sonic somewhere between laughed and groaned in pain.

Goku chuckled. "Glad to see you're alright, Sonic."

Sonic groaned in pain. "Not too sure about being 'alright,' but I'm alive, that's something. How about you? How did you fare against Nazo? I see that you're the only one left standing."

"I did alright, but Nazo teleported away after we fought for a little while. I might have had a better chance if I had transformed, but I didn't, and he got away" Goku lamented.

"Heh heh" Sonic groan/chuckled. "Well, I guess you know a bit more about Nazo now, maybe a bit more than you would have liked all at once."

"You got that right" Goku said. "I couldn't even sense his power, and even with this energy fluctuation we have right now, I've been able to sense powerful or nearby energies. I wonder why I couldn't sense his."

Sonic let out a long groan as he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, leaning against the smoldering couch. "Probably not a type of energy that you were used to. We also use Chaos Energy to transform, but we use it as an amplifier. But from what I've heard you say, you don't sense all of our power when we're transformed. That's probably because you can't quite get a read on Chaos Energy yet. Nazo is just about made up of pure Chaos Energy, so that explains how he could sneak up on us. Me and Shadow can sense it, but we usually have to be active to sense it, so while we were just talking, we didn't notice it either."

"Well, one bright side is that me, Gohan, and Vegeta should come out of this a lot better off that we were before" Goku said.

"Hmm?" Sonic wondered. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Saiyans, we have this thing, where if we survive and heal from a severe attack or near fatal wound, we come back a lot stronger. Vegeta called it a Zucchini or something like that" Goku said.

"I'm pretty sure he said 'Zenkai,' Goku" Bulma said.

"Oh yeah, that sounds like something that would make sense" Goku laughed.

Sonic braced himself on the couch and stood up shakily. He was revealed to have several cuts and scrapes over his body, and some matted blood around a shadowy wound on his side. "Well guys, it's full on night right now, so I think that it's about time for me to get back to Knothole. I need some serious rest here."

"Don't worry about it, Sonic. You can spend the night right here" Bulma said. "There's no need to have to make that trip all the way back."

"Yeah, I agree. You shouldn't exert yourself, just stay and rest. Everyone else has to anyways, like my Gohan" Chi-Chi said.

Sonic chuckled. "Sorry guys, but I don't need to be mothered, no offense. Besides, it's only a jump through Chaos Control away for me. And, I think I may feel better if I'm sleeping in my house in the woods."

Chi-Chi looked slightly stern. "Come on, you're quite a bit younger than my Gohan, and even he needs his rest. If we don't need to mother you, then what would your mother say?"

Sonic looked down. "I don't know."

Chi-Chi looked at him confused. "What do you mean you don't-" then it struck her. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"Don't worry about it" Sonic said, looking back up. "You didn't know, that's fine." He turned to look at Tails. "Hey buddy, you think you could carry Silver over here?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah, sure thing, Sonic." He fluttered over to Silver, picked him up, then set him down near Shadow.

"Okay, here we go" Sonic grunted, taking a few steps towards the bodies of the two hedgehogs. He held out a hand and summoned the Super Sapphire into his palm.

He looked up at the group in the room, taking in the scene of destruction caused by Nazo, all because he had come to exact a small portion of his revenge on himself and Shadow. Nazo had attacked fathers, sons, husbands, just on a whim. If he had been out, truly for blood, then…

He didn't even finish his thought. "See ya later, guys" he said, linking himself to the Emerald. "CHAOS CONTROL!"

A bright flash of light filled the room, enveloping Sonic, Shadow, Silver, and Tails. When the light faded, the group had vanished.

Goku sighed. "I guess Sonic was right. I couldn't sense a bit of that reaction."

"I hope I didn't push him away" Chi-Chi said. "I had no idea that he didn't have a mother, I feel terrible for bringing it up."

"Yeah, no wonder he's so independent. I don't mean that he's not a team player, the way he worked with Shadow earlier was astounding. I haven't seen that kind of teamwork in forever. I mean that he seems to work solo, and doesn't open up that much outside of his friends" Goku said. "He's only like 19 or something. He also said something about running around, trying to take down that Eggman character. I at least had Grandpa Gohan until I was about 4. I can't imagine being out on his own for his entire life."

"Yeah, no kidding. But even with all that, you know who Sonic really reminds me of, Goku?" Bulma asked.

"Hmm?"

"You" she revealed. "You may have had more of a social upbringing, but you and Sonic act almost exactly the same. He acts a bit more nonchalant and modern, and is a bit less, well, of a battle-jockey, but besides that, he is just like you."

"Wow, really?" Goku asked.

"You know, their entire little posse reminded me a lot of us. Shadow was a lot like Vegeta, Tails reminded me of Gohan, and Silver, well, I'm not sure. But he kind of reminded me of that Trunks who came from the future" Chi-Chi said.

"Wow, yeah, they did, didn't they?" Bulma said.

"Well, I just hope that I didn't push Sonic away. His mannerisms were quite good for a fighter" Chi-Chi said, shooting a look at Goku. "Well, let's get to work and get all of these guys into bed."

"Okay, I'll help" Goku said, standing up.

Chi-Chi shook her head and held her hand out. "Oh no, Goku, you are going to rest too. Did you forget with everything that's been happening, that you fought a god only 24 hours ago?"

"But I don't feel tired" Goku complained.

"I said, REST!" Chi-Chi commanded, pushing Goku down.

"Ow, you know that push did more damage than my fight with Nazo did" Goku muttered.

Krillin and Yamcha, the only two near enough to hear him, laughed.

* * *

 **Knothole…**

* * *

It was completely dark within the confines of the Great Forest. The only lights came from strategically placed dim lamps around the base, illuminating everything to the most minor extent. So naturally, when a supernova appeared in the center of the base, the Freedom Fighter on guard was blinded for the next hour.

Sonic and his friends materialized on the forest floor in a ball of Chaos Energy, dropping onto the dirt terrain. However, Tails was the only one to land on his feet. Shadow and Silver were still unconscious and Sonic's knees buckled as he touched down.

"Come on now, Sonic. Get up so we can get back to your house" Tails chided.

Sonic groaned and chuckled. "Who says I don't want to just sleep right here? The grass is nice and spongy, why do I need a bed?"

"Sonic, Tails, is that you?" they heard a voice ask.

"Yeah, it's us Sally" Sonic said, turning his head to look at her.

Sally rubbed the light out of her eyes as she stumbled over to the group. "Geez, you guys were gone for so long." She rubbed her eyes one last time, clearing the spots. "I'm glad your-" she stopped short as she shrieked when she saw Sonic's condition.

"Just when I thought I had escaped a good mothering" Sonic thought with despair.

"Oh my god, what happened to you? You're cut up all over!" Sally exclaimed. Sonic didn't even want to know what she would say when she caught a glimpse of where Nazo's blast of dark energy had struck.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" he heard her exclaim, loud enough to wake up Gohan, Piccolo, and the others all those miles away.

"Shush, Sally, you don't want to wake up all of Knothole, do you?" Sonic asked.

Sally covered her mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so loud, but, _Sonic_ …"

"It's not anything fatal, Sally, it just looks bad because I was hit with a blast of Dark Chaos Energy. That's the only reason it looks so bad" Sonic assured her.

"Really, it was splashed with dark energy, that's all?" Sally said, glaring at him. "Why don't you stand up then?"

Sonic gulped. "Stand up?"

"Yeah, then go ahead and take a quick lap to your house in back. Your record is about .35 seconds, so let's say, make it in half a second" Sally said.

Another gulp. "H-h-half a second?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then" Sonic said shakily. He braced his arms on the ground and began to push himself up into a standing position. As soon as he stood up, he almost fell over backwards as his knees didn't want to support his weight yet.

"Okay then" Sonic gulped as he steadied himself. He prepared to run but placing one of his feet further back and leaning forward.

"Okay Sonic" Sally said, amused that Sonic was going through with it. "Start in 3… 2… 1…"

"Go" Sonic said, leaping forward, towards his house. His feet hit the ground, and he thought, "I can do this."

Then he fell on his face.

His legs gave out and he went flying forward across the turf, hitting the ground, and his head plowing a trench through the terrain, spraying dirt and grass everywhere.

"Bleh" Sonic said weakly, spitting the turf out of his mouth. He lay on the ground, frozen, until he heard footsteps behind him.

"Well, it's no record time, but I think that was your record wipe-out" Sally teased the ground bound hedgehog.

"Ha ha" Sonic said sarcastically. "Fine, you got me, I'm a bit worn out."

"Alright, Spikey, come on" Sally said, picking Sonic up and tugging him towards the border of Knothole.

"Oh no, she's taking me out into the woods to kill me for lying to her" Sonic thought as he stumbled along, in tow by Sally.

"Um, I'll just wait here, you guys, until you get back" Tails said, sitting down on the ground.

"Traitor!" Sonic called back.

Sonic nearly fell over again as Sally gave a particularly tough pull, forcing Sonic to keep up with her.

"Come on, Sally, you don't need to worry about me. Maybe I was a bit headstrong and stupid when we were like seven, but I can take care of myself now" Sonic said, attempting to free himself.

"Just come on" Sally sighed, lightening her grip slightly, but still keeping Sonic in tow.

"What are we even doing out here, Sally?" Sonic asked. "I really just want to get some rest here."

"Trust me, Sonic, I'm doing this for your own good" she responded.

Sonic gulped audibly. "That didn't sound ominous _at all_."

Sally didn't respond, so Sonic stopped trying. He merely sulked as the leader of Knothole proceeded to drag him through the dark woods.

After a few minutes, something caught Sonic's eye. There was a soft green light, gleaming through the trees. Due to the extremely dark cover there was under the forest, it was quite a shock, and Sonic had to blink spots out of his eyes.

As he and Sally emerged from the cover of the forest, a surprising sight met Sonic's eyes. An exact replica of the altar on Angel Island stood in the center of the field, the Master Emerald sitting in the center, and standing in front of it was…

"So that's where you went, eh Knuckles?" Sonic called out.

The red echidna turned around with a smile on his face, but stopped short when he saw Sonic's condition. "Well, I would say it's good to see you, Sonic, but sadly, it kind of hurts to look at you" he chuckled.

"Why is everyone using my damage as a comedy factor?" Sonic muttered beneath his breath. However, with the silence of the forest, it was still loud enough for both Sally and Knuckles to hear. They both let out a short laugh at Sonic's reaction.

Sonic couldn't help but laugh as well. After all, what kind of sense of humor did you have if you couldn't even laugh at yourself? However, his laugh was transformed into a groan as his side panged. He fell to the ground, clutching the shadowy wound in his side.

Sonic felt himself blacking out from the pain. The last things he remembered were a pair of hands picking him up, Sally calling for help, motion, a green light approaching him, or was he approaching the green light?

Another massive surge of pain rocked his world. His vision was going black, his mind was slipping out of focus, and then, everything went dark.

* * *

 **Neo-Eggmanland…**

* * *

In a chamber, surrounded by the Dark Emeralds, and before the Black Emerald, Nazo slowly opened his eyes.

"Hmm, my attack wasn't supposed to be near fatal. Either I'm more powerful than I believed myself to be, or that foolish pincushion has gotten soft" Nazo chuckled.

Nazo stood up, glancing at the Black Emerald again. Attached to the massive gem were several tubes, streaming Dark Chaos Energy to elsewhere in the lab, or more specifically, as energy to be interwoven into the new Dark Metal Sonic, who, from what he had heard, was nearing completion. The majority of the template, minus a few new additions, was borrowed from the original Metal Sonic. The interface was going to be that of Mecha Sonic, who had been destroyed soon after the dimensions had split. The design was slightly crueler as well, allowing a darker blue color, as well as longer, sharper claws and spikes.

"Heh heh, I may be the most powerful being, but even I have to admit, some of the Doctor's machines are quite impressive" Nazo said.

As he turned to walk out, he heard a slight whooshing sound as the tubes retracted, signaling the completion of the assimilation of energy.

Nazo turned and walked out of the room. The only reason he was in there to begin with was because the close contact with Dark Chaos Energy helped with his divination. However, he had no idea why, yet even at close contact, his powers of divination were weakening. He supposed that divination had been some sort of post revival perk that he had obtained, yet now it was fading.

Yet psychic sight wasn't the only thing he had gained from his revival. He had not come back in his most basic form he had before. He had come back, all the way in his Hyper Perfect Form, the form that placed him even above Hyper Shadic in terms of power. His powers had increased as well, as he noticed when he laid his assault on Sonic and his friends.

As he walked down the hall, he clenched his fists. He now felt that he could ascend further beyond his current state, if the Doctor would let him have unbridled access to the Dark Emeralds and Black Emeralds. However, due to a near constant use of theme, coupled with a fear that whatever Nazo would do would destroy the precious gems, had Nazo held back. The worst part, is that if Nazo himself triggered a faulty reaction in the Chaos Energy, he himself could very well be destroyed as well, considering the amount of Dark Chaos Energy they were dealing with.

He stepped outside of the main bunker where the Emeralds were stored, surveying the surroundings. The new Eggmanland had a design very much to his liking. It was several times the size that Eggmanland was originally, and the towers much, much higher that they were previously. Some seemed to just disappear up into the sky.

"Hmmph" Nazo sighed. The dark theme of the new park was perfect, yet the size was overkill. It would be an easy target, should Shadic, or someone approximately as powerful, decide to attack.

He rubbed a sore spot on his shoulder. Whatever sort of energy blast that Saiyan had struck him with had been something new to him. An energy spread all over his body, stunning him and zapping his body with the power. It was an interesting technique, to say the very least, due it it being able to harm him.

He saw a figure shoot out of the main tower, cloaked in purple energy. He immediately recognized the form as Frieza.

He warped to his location, blocking the lizard from flying forward anymore.

"Well, what did the Doctor say?" Nazo asked.

Frieza glared at Nazo. "I'm no pathetic monkey like Goku, the one who beat you up. I'm the emperor of this universe, who is making an alliance to extend to a second universe. I do NOT report to you" he spat.

Nazo chuckled. "Maybe not, but I have ways. Certain ways of making people, say, _bend_ to my will." As he said this, he moved behind Frieza, grabbed his neck and tail, braced his knee against his back, and began to pull.

"Hrrg" Frieza grunted as his back began to pop as increased pressure was slowly applied to his back.

"Go ahead, just tell me what the Doctor is planning to do, and this will all stop" Nazo laughed maliciously.

Frieza grunted as he twisted his arm towards Nazo and pointed at him. A thin beam of pink energy was shot out, point blank at Nazo's eye. However, Nazo blinked and the beam was deflected past Frieza, into the sky.

"Oh, quite the feisty one, huh?" Nazo asked tauntingly. "What a shame, when we were having such a great time." He applied further pressure to Frieza's back, straining his vertebrae.

"Argh, fine" Frieza sputtered out, gasping in relief as Nazo released him. He shot a glare more deadly than any Supernova or Death Beam he could ever muster up at Nazo.

"The Doctor was quite shocked when he heard about their ability to fuse, as well as their ability to take me down while powered up with the Black Serum. He said I was not to engage any of his enemies, nor the Z-Fighters, as he needs every able body at ready."

"Ah, so you were too weak to do anything, so he laid you off, huh?" Nazo asked.

"Why you putrid little ingrate" Frieza spat. "I am not weak by any means, those filthy rats cheated and fused together."

"No, I understand what you mean" Nazo said, suddenly becoming serious. "No one can understand what it is like to be stared down by a Fusion Warrior until you have experienced that cold sensation for yourself. Knowing that two enemies that used to be nothing to you, have merged into one far superior. The look of fear goes to that of confidence, an extreme confidence that goes so far as to inspire fear into a foe."

Nazo closed his eyes for a moment. "When I fought Hyper Shadic myself, it was quite the turnaround. My power was on such a level that we had not become polar opposites, yet I was then quite outclassed. I found a power that let me ascend past their level, yet somehow they found a way to beat me, even those worthless friends of theirs played a role in my defeat. Even when I survived their most powerful attack, they found me, and drained my power, making me helpless. Fusion is not something to be taken lightly. The first time I fought those 4, I was cocky, believing myself to be above them, and that was a mistake. You should never underestimate your opponent, because if they manage to gain the leg up, even once, your reason goes out the window, and you already have lost the battle. I understand now, that while I am superior to them in terms of power, they have abilities which may place them above me. Never believe an opponent to be completely helpless."

"That's quite the eulogy, but what was the point besides having a moral to the story" Frieza said.

Nazo opened his eyes. "I may be back, and I may be more cautious this time, yet I still want revenge for that humiliating defeat the delivered to me, those years back. Now then, I have power, and you have a very cunning mind, a very _cruel_ mind."

"What are you getting at?" Frieza asked, now truly curious as to what Nazo was planning.

"This is what I am saying" Nazo said. "I will train you, both in strength, and technique, and I will teach you in the ways of controlling Chaos. In exchange, I want you to help me, in my revenge against those miserable hedgehogs."

For perhaps the first time in his life, Frieza truly smiled in delight. "Ah, now _that_ sounds like a deal I would be happy to make."

"Perfect. Once I am through with you, you will not only be able to make those two suffer like the deserve, but you should have no trouble exacting a revenge of your own" Nazo said.

"Excellent, when I am ready, you won't even have to worry" Frieza said. "Those two will be tortured to the brink of insanity and beyond before they can even think of dying!"

Nazo let out a laugh. "I admire your vindictive streak. I have a feeling you have a _golden_ future ahead of you."

* * *

 **Wow, this was my longest chapter yet. I'm trying to increase the length of my chapters so you guys can get more or an experience from them, because I don't think my early chapters are 1,600 words were very satisfying. Yes, another slower chapter, I am sorry for that, but if the story was all action, then those scenes wouldn't mean very much to you. Well, that's all I have to say, except, HAPPY 2016 EVERYONE! See ya next time!**


	19. Plan to Erradicate the Supreme Kais

**Hey guys, back with another chapter. Sorry, I've been swamped with school and chores, so it's been tough to find a moment to write. However, it's also been a bit harder to find the drive to write, considering that I haven't hardly gotten a single review for a few chapters now. Guys, I really do need reviews to tell me how I'm doing, otherwise, I don't even know if it's worth it to write this stuff. I'm not giving up, but you may have to wait drastically longer between updates if the review box doesn't get some love. Anyways, little bit of an announcement, so now that that is over, on with the story...**

* * *

 **Knothole…**

* * *

In a bleary haze, Sonic felt himself regaining feeling and consciousness. He felt completely drained, and his entire side was aching in pain, like it had been struck with a _very_ large club.

"Hnnnnrrrrrggghhh" Sonic let out a low groan as he attempted to open his eyes. As he started to get a blurry vision back, he began to notice a dim glow above him and a green glow to his side.

He blinked a few times to get the blurriness out of his eyes, and noticed that it was early morning by the light of the sky, and he was lying near the Master Emerald.

"Hey, good morning there, Sonic" Knuckles said, walking around the Master Emerald to greet him. "How you feeling?"

"Like I was stabbed through the side, then my side was dipped in acid before it scabbed over" Sonic chuckled weakly. He felt drained, but the only part of him that really hurt was his side.

"Well, not too far off there. You got blasted by Nazo, which the wound left you falling unconscious, and I patched you up with energy from the Master Emerald, letting you rest here for the night" Knuckles summarized what had happened.

Sonic took a deep breath, then sat up slowly. "Geez, no wonder I felt the whole 'dipped in acid' part, if you used Chaos Energy to fix me up."

"Yeah, Chaos on Chaos isn't necessarily the most perfect plan, but you were fading fast, and we needed a quick fix" Knuckles said.

Sonic stood up, somewhat shakily, although he did not feel as exhausted as he did after Nazo initially beat him down. "How are Tails, Shadow, and Silver doing?"

"Well, from what I heard from Sally, Shadow and Silver just needed some sleep" Knuckles said. "By the way, was I the only one who had a _very_ painful recollection of Soleanna?"

Sonic chuckled. "Not at all, that was worse than any migraine anyone could ever get."

Knuckles fake groaned. "Yeah, you're telling me. I felt like my skull was being cleaved in two before it was over."

Sonic stretched his arms and legs, trying to get some feeling back. "You know, I sometimes feel like my body recovers too darn fast from these injuries. Last night I was on the brink of death from Chaos Energy, and now I only feel sore." Sonic stretched a bit more, then noticed something. "I also feel like I've got a bit more muscle tone. I didn't have this much after training yesterday."

Knuckles shrugged. "Maybe what they say is true, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Maybe revival from the Master Emerald made you a bit stronger, there's a lot we don't know about it. Anyways, I wish I had been here to meet all those others, although judging by that crater in Knothole, maybe I didn't want to be here when they came."

Sonic laughed. "Yeah, that guy Vegeta has just a little bit of a temper, and is just a little too impatient. I went ahead and put him in his place though."

"Whadja do, blast him with Sonic Wind?" Knuckles asked.

"Well, I started by crashing into him with my Boost, but things kind of escalated quickly as he transformed to a point where I had to go Hyper just to keep up. Luckily Goku broke us up before things got fatal" Sonic described the battle.

"I bet if the Emeralds were at full power, that you would have smote him in two seconds flat" Knuckles said. "I remember how powerful you were that day on Angel Island, and there is no way anyone short of Nazo could even hope to draw with you."

Sonic chuckled. "Man, you really haven't seen these guys at full power. Goku told me himself that he's achieved a form, powerful enough to match the God of Destruction in his universe, and from what I've heard, this God is _way_ beyond Chaos was. Everyone else has a huge amount of power also, they can even fuse."

"Seriously, that powerful, huh?" Knuckles asked. "Gods and fusion, it seems like they're copying us more and more."

"Who knows, maybe we're the copycats" Sonic laughed. "Anyways, point is, I think that right now, they have a pretty good bit of power above us."

"Maybe I can go see everyone else today" Knuckles said. "I've set up a barrier around the Emerald, so it's protected, and I may be able to see just how much more powerful they are."

"May want to rethink that, unless you were planning on watching them train or something" Sonic said. "Because unless they go easy on you, you won't last long. I almost wiped out big time just when Goku's son blocked my practice kick."

Knuckles let out a low whistle. "That tough, eh? Well, maybe not a fight, but it'll be interesting to see someone powerful who isn't trying to destroy us" he said, referring to Nazo.

"Well, how about we head back to Knothole. We can check up on Shadow and Silver, then grab Tails and head on over" Sonic suggested, reaching his hand back.

Knuckles clasped on to it. "Okay, but please, this time, don't go so fast that I turn Emerald Green."

Sonic chuckled at the analogy. "I won't be going quite as speedy, because I'm not Hyper right now, but I only have one speed throughout all my forms."

"And that is?"

Sonic flashed a shining grin. "Fast."

Sonic took off like a bullet, down from the shrine, racing into the forest, pulling the leaves off the trees with the vacuum he created. He was in Knothole before the last one settled to the ground.

* * *

 **Neo Eggmanland…**

* * *

Among the dim, dark buildings that towered into the sky, Nazo and Frieza were among a wide open space within. Surrounding Nazo were the 7 Dark Emeralds, levitating in the air.

"Now, for your first lesson in the usage of Chaos Energy" Nazo said. "Don't mess this up, because if you don't deliver a satisfying revenge using this, then I may have no choice but to obliterate you for wasting my time."

Frieza chuckled lightly. "Oh, you have no need to worry about the revenge part of things. It just so happens that I already have things being planned out."

Nazo nodded. "Very well. The first step to controlling Chaos Energy is empathetic links. I have described Chaos to you, and what it can do. Now, Chaos is easiest to use while under a state of rage, as it feels compelled to that. That is how many hidden powers work, and is how you were defeated, from what I heard."

"Oh, you just _had_ to bring that up!" Frieza snarled.

"Yes, excellent, use that" Nazo said. Indeed, Frieza's little outburst had triggered a reaction in the Emeralds. "Let the thoughts of anger, hate, and rage flow through you, and link it to the Emeralds, harness their power!"

Frieza sat there and fumed, remembering his final moments on Namek, Goku's taunts about him not even being a challenge anymore, that other Saiyan slicing him with a sword, and his most recent defeat at the hands of the fused rats…

"Hrrgh" Frieza growled, focusing simultaneously on the Dark Emeralds as well as the memories. Slowly, the Emeralds began to shed more shadowy mist-like energy, and they began to move through the air towards Frieza.

"Ah" Nazo noticed. "Excellent, I suppose that your previous abilities of controlling energy and using psychokinesis may also have helped you, as both skills are similar to manipulating Chaos."

Nazo looked Frieza full in the face. "However, controlling the movements of the Emeralds is only a small part. You need to absorb to energy from them to have any usage of them, like this…"

Nazo thrust a hand out and willed an Emerald to himself. He caught it and clenched his hand around it. Sparks of dark energy traveled up his arm and coursed throughout his entire body. To seal his point, Nazo unleashed a burst of black energy surrounding him, blowing away the surrounding turf.

"Now, are you able to harness Chaos Power, or are you just able to move rocks?" Nazo asked the space tyrant.

"Just watch me" Frieza spat, gripping one of the Dark Emeralds tightly in his hand. Frieza clenched his fist around the emerald and concentrated so hard that veins began to pulse through his forehead.

"Pathetic, all you're doing is draining your own energy" Nazo said. "You have to link with the Emerald, then draw the power from it. Squeezing it hard won't do a thing except make your hand sore."

Frieza looked like he was about to retort, but then something caught Nazo's attention. "Ah, now this is interesting."

"What are you doing?" Frieza asked aggressively. "We should be concentrating on my training, shouldn't we? Get your head back in place."

"Shut up!" Nazo commanded. He tilted his head as if he was listening to something, and peered into the sky. "Ah, so that's what it is."

"What?" Frieza asked, becoming slightly intrigued.

Nazo turned back to Frieza. "Now, what was the name of that powerful fighter that came through with you? The large Saiyan."

Frieza appeared slightly miffed. "What does Broly have to do with our revenge?"

"Ah, Broly, that was it" Nazo said. He looked Frieza in the eye. "Continue attempting to harness the power of the Emerald, I will be back soon" he said as he turned to take off.

"Where are you going?" Frieza asked.

Nazo stopped for a moment, then over his shoulder, he said "To take out a potential ally to our enemies." With that, he took off into the air towards deep Neo-Eggmanland.

* * *

 **Capsule Corp…**

* * *

Goku's eyes shot open, his ears feeling like they were just yelled in. He blearily rubbed his eyes and slapped his cheeks, trying to wake up. He looked around, but everyone else was only just getting up too.

Goku and everyone else had been placed on various couches in the Capsule Corporation living room to sleep for the night. While it had been an easy place to sleep…

"Hrrgh, my back's feeling a little sore this morning" Goku groaned as he sat up. "Although, that could just be from Chi-Chi" he chuckled to himself.

Tien, Gohan, Vegeta, and Piccolo were all sitting up, just as disoriented as he was. They were also each running their ears, as if they too felt as if someone had just yelled in them.

Goku stood up and surveyed the room, but he didn't see anyone who wasn't recently, for lack of a better phrase, conked out. "Hmm, then I wonder what woke us all…" Goku began to say, before he was cut off.

" _Are you bozos listening to me yet?_ " a cranky voice boomed through Goku's mind, and apparently everyone else's too, as they all got up and looked up.

"Hey, Old Kai, is that you?" Goku called out.

" _Yes it's me, you nimrod. And it's been me trying to get you lazy bones up for the past half an hour!_ " Old Kai's voice came again.

Goku scratched his head. "Gee, Old Kai, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're mad with us" he said.

" _Eh, most of that is just the frustration at you for being such heavy sleepers. My voice isn't what it used to be_ " Old Kai said more calmly. " _But explain to me this. Why is it, that when I went to look up some, eh heh, girls, on Earth, I instead found a giant floating island?_ "

"Giant floating island?" Goku asked confusedly. Then it clicked. "Oh, you must have seen Angel Island. I guess you don't know what's been going on?"

" _What do you mean, what's been happening?_ " Old Kai asked.

"Hmph, calls himself the overseer of the universe, yet doesn't realize when something affecting multiple dimensions has been happening" Vegeta mocked.

" _Hmm, multiple dimensions?_ " Old Kai asked. " _Tell me exactly what's been going on!_ "

"Well, to cover the basics," Goku began, "Some evil guy in an alternate dimension used a power that ended up splitting the dimensional fabric, causing his universe and ours to merge."

" _Wh-wh-wh-what, you say that like it's nothing!_ " Old Kai sputtered. " _Why, of all universes, did it merge with ours though?_ "

Gohan answered this one. "Well, I think that it was because of, during the fight with Buu, he weakened out dimensional walls when he screamed to try to destroy Vegito. Picture it like multiple dams along a river. If the river is touching each dam at once, then it will be steadily eroding each one at the same pace. However, a weakener dam will break sooner, and the entire river will flood through the breach."

" _Maybe Buu did have a part to play_ " Old Kai said. " _However, I think that you had a role in this also, Goku!_ "

"What do you mean, me?" Goku asked. "I don't have the power to break those kinds of walls."

" _Maybe not on your own, but did I not warn you, when you were fighting Beerus, that you were weakening our universe?_ " Old Kai demanded.

"Wait, did I seriously cause this?" Goku asked, shocked.

Gohan stood up and placed his hand on Goku's shoulder. "Don't worry, Dad. With Buu already, we would have been the target of this breach. That just made it so that it wasn't prolonged." He now addressed Old Kai. "Besides, are you saying that you would willingly wish this on another universe?"

" _No, I am not saying that_ " Old Kai said. " _If I said that, then I would sound selfish._ "

Everyone in the room fell down anime-style, shaking the floor.

Goku stood up, rubbing his head. "Gohan has a point, actually. You've always seemed pretty predisposed to nail us for things just because of our pride, Old Kai."

" _That's because your pride makes you reckless and foolhardy. You crushed a surefire chance to defeat Buu just because your pride got in the way! Your pride is a legitimate cause for worry_ " Old Kai reprimanded.

"Geez, Old Kai, I get it, I get it…" Goku said.

" _Hmmph_ " Old Kai huffed.

"Hey, on the bright side, we made some new friends" Goku said.

"Are you sure about 'friends,' Kakarot?" Vegeta asked. "We've known them for less than 24 hours, and they got a being of pure darkness to come in and attack us all. At this point, 'allies' is kind of a loose term."

"Hey, Vegeta, it's not their fault that Nazo came after us. Their just trying to help us with the problems _their_ world brought" Goku countered.

" _Hmm, Nazo, where have I heard that name before?_ " they heard Old Kai muse.

"What?!" Goku whipped his head back up, even though he couldn't see Old Kai. "You've heard of Nazo?!"

" _Not sure, but somehow I feel as if I have heard that name before_ " Old Kai said. " _Anyways, you said something about new allies?_ "

"Oh yeah, we made some new friends from the other world. Their names are Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Tails, and Knuckles" Goku said.

"Hmm? Who's Knuckles?" Gohan asked.

"Oh, he was gone when we came back over here, but he's another one of Sonic's close friends" Goku explained.

" _Now, you see, there's a couple more names that I can swear that I have heard before, Sonic and Knuckles"_ Old Kai said, sparking further interest among the group.

"How is it that he's heard their names if this is the first time that he's even looked at Earth since they came here?" Goku wondered.

" _Hmm, well, I don't know. Anyways, I've got stuff to do, so if you don't mind, toodaloo!_ " Old Kai said, his connection with the group disappearing.

"Hmmph, old git" Vegeta muttered.

"Hey, cut him some slack, Vegeta, he is about a gazillion years old you know" Gohan chuckled. "I had to put up with so much more that you when he was unlocking my potential."

"Oh darn, I felt like we were forgetting something!" Goku exclaimed suddenly.

"What do you mean, Dad?" Gohan asked.

"I mean that I wanted to see if Old Kai would unlock the potential for Sonic and his friends" Goku explained. "I feel like they would do well from it, because while they have some good skills, without their Chaos Emeralds, they're basically sitting ducks against some of our enemies."

"Got that right, they're pretty helpless on their own" Vegeta commented.

"Geez, Vegeta, you just don't like anybody, do you?" Goku asked, prompting a chuckle from the group.

"Well, I guess we should-" Goku began, before he was interrupted by a bright light shining from outside. "Oh, I guess they want to get an early start."

Goku stuck his head out the window, and down in the courtyard were Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver. "Hey guys, morning!"

Sonic and his friends looked up. "Hey, there, Goku! We found Knuckles!" he called back up.

"Sorry for ditching the group yesterday, but I had to go grab the Master Emerald to make sure that Eggman didn't get at it" Knuckles explained.

Goku stepped back and walked towards the sliding glass door leading to the balcony. He jumped down into the yard, followed by the others. "No problem, but you missed out on some cool stuff."

"Yeah, I know, I saw that dark scorcher Sonic got" Knuckles laughed.

"Okay, can people please quit adding insult to injury?" Sonic pleaded.

"How about, I'll consider it" Knuckles replied.

Sonic muttered, but he didn't follow it up.

Goku stretched his arms above his head. "Well guys, ready to get back to your training?"

Sonic pumped his fist. "Yeah, you bet, I'm not going to ever let anyone take me out that easily ever again!"

"Yeah, Nazo is going to be in a heap of trouble soon here" Shadow said.

"Just because I didn't get a chance to see the guy, doesn't mean I'm going to let him skate by with this" Silver said.

"Yeah, let's make him wish he stayed a rock" Tails concluded.

Goku nodded. "Well, it seems you guys are raring to go. Well, first we should work on your-"

Goku was cut short as another flash of light appeared behind Sonic and co. The light faded to reveal a man with purple skin, long white hair, and red clothes.

"Hey, Kibito Kai, how's it hanging?" Goku asked.

Kibito Kai didn't respond, he just plowed through Sonic and his friends to reach Goku. "No time for formalities, we need your help, _fast!_ "

"What's happened?" Goku asked, turning serious.

"The Sacred World of the Kais is under attack, grab on" Kibito Kai rushed to explain, and holding out his hand.

Goku grabbed on to Kibito Kai's hand, and Vegeta reluctantly placed his hand on the Kai's shoulder.

"Hey, wait for us!" Sonic shouted, dashing forward along Shadow, Silver, Tail, and Knuckles, each approaching the three before becoming cloaked in a bright light.

As the light faded, Goku, Vegeta, Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Tails, Knuckles, and Kibitoshin were all gone.

* * *

 **Sacred World of the Kais...**

* * *

Kibito Kai landed the group in a grassy field underneath a purple sky. There were mountains and short grass for miles around.

Sonic stood up and looked around. "Where, are, we?" he asked hesitantly.

Kibito Kai turned around. "Looks like I took up some unintended passengers" he said. "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. Goku here was training me, so I figured I could help out with whatever problem you guys had" Sonic explained. "And these are my friends, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver."

"Sup?" Shadow asked, nodding at Kibito Kai.

Goku was surveying the area. "I'm not seeing anything, what exactly are we looking for?" he asked.

"Just after Ancestor stopped talking to you, there was a flash of dark light a few hundred feet away from where me and him were" Kibito Kai explained. "Then, this massive fighter appeared out of nowhere and started destroying the planet."

"But where is this-" Goku began to ask, before he was cut off by a ground shaking explosion. A mountain far to the north had just blown up with a green light.

As the smoke cleared, Goku began to get a clear lock on the energy signal of their enemy. The plant's energy was clearer than the Earth's, meaning he was able to read energy signals.

However, that was where the good news ended. He heard Vegeta gasp beside him. "Kakarot, is that, _him?!_ "

"But, he's dead, isn't he?" Goku asked.

"Obviously Frieza wasn't the only one brought back to the land of the living" Vegeta said. A green light lit up the sky, as they realized their enemy was preparing another attack. "Let me handle this Kakarot."

Vegeta transformed into a Super Saiyan and flew into the air. He held his hand out and charged a blue orb of energy. As the green blast flew towards another mountain, Vegeta yelled "Big Bang, ATTACK!"

Vegeta fired a shot that cancelled out the attack and saved the mountain. However, the victory was short lived as now they were discovered.

"KAKAROT!" a booming voice rang out.

"Broly…" Goku muttered. "Greeeeeaaaaaattttt."

A massive Saiyan flew towards the group. He had the blonde hair of a Super Saiyan, but was almost twice the size of Goku or Vegeta, and radiated purple and green aura.

Shadow groaned. "Great, first that Frieza, and now this Broly are being powered up by negative Chaos Energy."

"What, are you serious?" SSJ Vegeta almost shouted. With a burst of energy, Vegeta ascended to Super Saiyan 2. "Let's see just how deadly this Chaos Energy you speak of is."

Vegeta took off towards Broly, and Sonic's group stood on the ground watching. "He has no idea what he's getting into" Tails said. "He's underestimating just how potent Chaos really is."

"Broly, your fight is with me, not Kakarot!" SSJ Vegeta shouted, flying at Broly and twisting to launch a descending kick.

"Scum" SSJ Broly simply said, batting Vegeta's leg to the side before striking him in the gut, hard. Vegeta temporarily fell out of the air, winded, before dashing back into the sky.

"Oh, so you want to play rough, do you?" SSJ Vegeta asked. He backed away from Broly and spread his arms out wide. His hands began to crackle with energy, before he slammed them together. "FINAL FLASH!" he screamed, launching a gargantuan beam of yellow energy at Broly.

"Hrrgh!" SSJ Broly grunted as he swung his fist, batting the Final Flash attack away from himself, into the sky. He followed it up by launching a Blaster Shell at the winded Vegeta.

Vegeta gasped for air, preparing to move out of the way, but the Blaster Shell vanished at the last second, reappearing behind Broly, striking him in the back and knocking him into the ground.

"Nice one Shadow" Sonic complimented. Shadow had used Chaos Control to hit Broly with his own attack.

Vegeta huffed. "Thanks for the assist" he said, before flying back off to combat Broly.

The group left on the ground heard a wheezing voice come up behind them. They turned around to see a purple man with a face like a wrinkled prune. "Old Kai?" Goku asked.

"Yes, yes, who does it look like?" Old Kai snapped. "What is that _monster_ doing here?"

"I have no idea why or how Broly is here" Goku said. "But we're here to help."

"Oh, speaking of which" Sonic said. He looked at Shadow and nodded. Shadow nodded back.

Sonic and Shadow summoned the Super Emeralds around the group of five, each one surrounding them. Each began to glow and swirl around them, lifting up the hair of all of them and levitating them.

At the same time, each one of them simultaneously burst into their Hyper Forms. Sonic, Shadow, and Silver each began flashing multicolored, Tails began to glow brightly, and summoned four small birds made of energy, and Knuckles glowed pink, electricity racing through his aura.

"Who's ready to lay the smack-down on that musclehead?" Hyper Sonic asked, his voice echoing.

"Yeah, let's teach him a lesson that he'll never forget?" Hyper Knuckles said.

The five all took off into the air just as Broly spiked Vegeta into the ground, making a crater out of his body. In a flash, they surrounded Broly on all sides.

"You know, I think we have more of a chance of giving the guy a seizure than actually defeating him with this light show our Hyper Forms have" Hyper Shadow chuckled.

"Alright, we're going to knock this guy out in two seconds flat" Hyper Sonic said. "NOW!"

Sonic flew straight at Broly with his Hyper Sonic Boost, however, Broly met him with a Blaster Shell and knocked him into the air.

Shadow followed up Sonic's attack by using a Chaos Spin Dash to hit Broly from behind, yet Broly predicted that, and flipped forwards at just the right moment to send Shadow careening into the air after Sonic.

Silver charged his fist full of Psychokinetic energy and sent a blast of it at Broly's head, while Tails and Knuckles performed with team attack Hyper Tornado to strike Broly. Broly twisted out of the way, causing Silver's Psychokinetic Blast to hit Tails back into Knuckles, who Broly then tossed at Silver with such velocity that they were sent crashing through a mountain, coming to a stop almost a mile away.

"Hmmph, I guess you were right, just not about the order you said things in" Broly laughed maniacally. " _I_ was the one to destroy all of you in two seconds! HAHAHAHA!"

Cutting Broly's laugh short, a beam of light shot out of the sky and touched the ground. Standing within the beam was another fighter, Hyper Shadic.

"Okay, that was pretty impressive" Hyper Shadic complimented. "Ready for round two?" he asked, and without waiting for an answer, charged Broly. He moved so fast, he almost teleported to Broly, then, using speed to add force, delivered an upwards kick to Broly's jawline.

"Now you'll think twice before-" Hyper Shadic began, being cut short by being slammed down by Broly. He landed on his feet, but they sank several inches through solid rock from the velocity he had crashed down at.

"Chaos Wind!" Hyper Shadic yelled, firing a turquoise sphere of energy at the Saiyan. Broly countered this with Blaster Shell. There was a short struggle before the attacks cancelled each other out, filling the air with smoke.

"Darn" Shadic thought. Using Chaos Control, he teleported back to Goku and the Kais. "Alright, I know when I'm outclassed. Not that it makes me happy, but I can admit it" Shadic called up to Broly before diffusing back into Sonic and Shadow.

Goku stretched his limbs and got pumped up. "I guess that it's my turn."

Broly watched the group and saw Goku. "Kakarot, I've been waiting for you" he said sadistically.

Goku flew up into the air, his hair changing from black to blonde, and rising up as he did. When Goku reached the same level as Broly, he had ascended to his Super Saiyan form.

"Well Broly, are you ready?" SSJ Goku

"Not yet" SSJ Broly grinned. With a burst of energy, Goku was staggered in the air as the power rippled outwards. Broly's entire body began to glow green, and his skeleton began to become visible. With an explosion of energy, true terror burst forth.

"Now, Kakarot, it's time to litter this place with your bones!" LSSJ Broly said madly.

"Wow Broly, you seem a lot more in control of yourself than last time. This should be a good fight" SSJ Goku said.

The clouds in the sky darkened, and the air became charged as a battle between two of the bitterest of rivals was about to get underway, and the fate of the World of the Kais hung in the balance.

* * *

 **Chapter end. Only one question. I have some good plots planned out for this story, but a lot of them take place a bit longer into the story, so what I'm wanting to ask is if you guys want a time skip, or a few filler chapters to lead up to that. That's it, so please review the chapter, and until next time, cya!**


	20. Fusions Reborn

**Sacred World of the Kais…**

* * *

All was still. Sonic and Shadow stood beside Kibito Kai and Old Kai, gazing up into the air, and bracing themselves for what was to come.

Hovering in the air, The Legendary Super Saiyan stood before the Saiyan God, and neither moved a muscle. Broly and Goku were waiting, to see which one would make the first move.

Goku reached his senses out, feeling Broly's power. "Wow, he's gotten really strong since we last fought, he is at least on the level of Buu when I first fought him" Goku thought. "And according to Shadow, he's being powered up by Chaos right now. Who knows how strong he is right now?"

"But, I'm stronger" he thought. "I became the Super Saiyan God, and I fought evenly with Beerus in this very form."

Broly vanished. Goku barely had time to react, but he twisted around and caught Broly's fist as he came flying at him from behind. "HYAH" he cried, throwing a kick up at Broly, who retreated to avoid the attack.

Goku took off, flying up into the sky and sending countless blasts raining down at Broly. Broly cloaked himself in an energy barrier, cancelling out any energy blasts that came near him, then reaching his hand back, filling it with glowing green light.

"Kakarot, stop this, if you can!" LSSJ Broly laughed, flinging a Blaster Shell up Goku.

Goku clasped his hands together and lifted them above his head, swinging them down of the attack as it came near, blasting it away. He then shot a large ball of energy back at Broly to counter, which was batted to the side.

The two exchanged shots like this for a while, blasting at each other, then deflecting the attacks that came at them. Broly shot one massive Eraser Cannon at Goku, one that wouldn't be able to be swung aside so easily.

"KamehameHA!" SSJ Goku cried, sending a wave of energy towards the incoming attack, stopping it in it's place, as each struggled to overwhelm the other.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" SSJ Goku cried out, pouring as much energy into the attack as he could. The Kamehameha Wave nearly doubled in size as it pierced the Eraser Cannon and shot straight at Broly, detonating on impact.

For a moment, all was silent. Then, Goku heard the screech of " _Kakarot!_ " come through the air. The smoke cleared to reveal Broly with his energy shield up.

Broly took off towards Goku, fist raised behind him as he dashed through the air. Goku copied Broly, dashing towards Broly, fist raised. As the two Saiyans neared each other, they swung their arms at each other, meeting each other's blows.

Broly's physical strength overwhelmed Goku, sending him careening backwards at high speed, soaring down towards the planet, skipping across the terrain. Goku caught himself, springing up with one hand, skidding backwards.

Goku readied a power stance. "Kaaa, Meee, Haa, Meee…" he chanted as Broly drew near, ready to attack again, coming in for a kill blow.

"HAAAAAAAAAAA!" SSJ Goku yelled, thrusting his hands forward and blasting Broly with a point-blank Kamehameha.

"RRRRAAAAAGGGGGGUUUUUU!" LSSJ Broly bellowed as the bluish white energy enveloped his body, blasting him backwards.

Goku didn't waste a single moment, following the body of the Legendary Super Saiyan as it flew away. He positioned himself underneath Broly and launched an uppercut, sending him upwards. Dashing up after him one last time, Goku flew far above his foe. Clenching his fist and charging it with red energy, he rocketed downwards towards him. "This will end it, Broly! DRAGON FIST!" he shouted.

Goku flew down, fist first, the image of a massive golden dragon trailing behind him, to meet the rising Broly.

"WHOA!" Sonic yelled, stumbling backwards, watching the battle from afar. "Where did that dragon come from?!"

"It's his Dragon Fist" Vegeta said, floating down next to the group, cradling his left arm, which appeared to be broken. "That's not a real dragon, but it's a flashy move. Kakarot makes it out of his _ki._ "

"HYYAAAGGGHHHH!" Goku shouted, his fist connecting with Broly's body. An explosion rocked the world, and a cloud of smoke appeared around the two Saiyans. A moment later, a golden dragon was seen soaring downwards, Broly trapped at the maw. They crashed into the ground, inducing another planet shaking explosion. The dragon appeared to soar down into the crust of the world, disappearing beneath the surface. As the dragon faded away in its entirety, Goku was revealed, standing atop the fallen Legendary Super Saiyan, fist still connected to his chest.

Goku panted heavily and stood up, his hair falling and reverting to pure black. "And that's, that" he said, breathing hard.

"Yeah, that's how it's done, Goku!" Sonic cheered, pumping his fist into the air.

"Hmmph, big surprise, Kakarot defeats to villain" Vegeta smirked.

"It's over, guys!" Goku called over, beginning to walk back over.

The group watched him approach. However, as he got near, Vegeta tensed up. "No, you fool, it's not!" he shouted, leaping into the air, bursting into Super Saiyan form.

"Wha-" Goku said, before he was slammed into from behind with a green light. "AAAAAUUUUUGGGG" he cried out as he was blasted forward.

Broly stood again, staring down everyone in front of him with his soulless, blank eyes. "Well, it appears that you aren't in any condition to fight anymore, Kakarot" he sneered. "And since no one is able to still fight me, I might as well destroy this planet!"

Broly rose into the air, a green aura of energy surrounding him, his energy rising, gathering it all into one spot.

Goku stood up, but he was in pretty bad shape. The entire back of his gi had been blasted away, and his back was burnt from Broly's Blaster Shell. "I, I couldn't, do it" he sputtered out.

"Geez, Kakarot, you are always letting your guard down" Vegeta spat. "If you had made sure to finish the job before turning your back to him, this wouldn't have happened."

Sonic and Shadow looked up into the sky as Broly became sheathed in a massive aura of green energy, which was steadily growing. "There's gotta be something we can do" Sonic said. "Anything, anything at all."

"It's no use Sonic" Shadow said. "Even when we fused into Hyper Shadic, that monster overwhelmed us. We were just barely able to hold our own."

Kibito Kai looked to the group. "Well, I guess that it's time to evacuate the planet. We don't want to be here when it goes off."

"Wait!" Goku said, waving his hands at Kibito Kai. "There's one more thing we might be able to do."

"Well, I'm all ears" Kibito Kai said, excited that Goku had a plan to save their planet.

"Yes, Kakarot, what is this brilliant plan that you speak of?" Vegeta asked.

Goku turned to Vegeta. "Vegeta, I think you know what I'm thinking."

Vegeta's face went red in anger. "Kakarot, I cannot believe that you think that I'd do _that,_ especially with you!" he nearly shouted.

"Come on, Vegeta, Fusion is our only chance to beat Broly" Goku pleaded. "You aren't seriously saying that you want to let Broly get away with destroying this planet?"

Vegeta huffed and turned away. "It's a better alternative" he muttered viciously.

"I can't believe this" Shadow said, getting up in Vegeta's face. "You have the same rivalry with Goku as I did with Sonic. You've seen how me and him fight together, and in the beginning, we fought even harder than you two do. So suck it up, be a man, _and swallow your damn pride!_ " he nearly shouted.

Everyone was silent for a moment in shock. Goku was legitimately worried that Shadow was about to become a grease spot on the surface of the planet.

"Kakarot, get into position" Vegeta said mildly, surprising everyone.

Goku grinned. "Thank you, Vegeta." As we went to get into position, he also clapped Shadow on the back. "And thank you for convincing him."

Shadow nodded in response. Goku walked over until he was to the left of Vegeta. Goku nodded to Vegeta, and they got into position. "Make sure we get this right, Kakarot" Vegeta said. "I'd prefer not to become that blob of fat we became when we fought Janemba."

"If you remember, you were the one who messed that one up" Goku teased.

"Um, guys, you may want to get this on with, I'm pretty sure that we don't have too much longer" Sonic told the duo.

"We need a moment to balance our energies" Goku said. "We need to mirror each other's powers, otherwise the Fusion will fail. And considering how much my power rose after becoming a god, this could take a while. Is there any chance that you guys can buy us some time?"

"We would try, but you saw how badly we were beaten, even when we fused into Shadic earlier" Sonic said. "I'm not sure how we could do anything against him."

"Darn" Goku said. "Isn't their any more powerful form that you guys are able to take?"

"Different forms, yes. More powerful, only if we had the Super Emeralds at max power" Sonic explained. Then an idea dawned in his head. "Although, I do have something that could put Broly on guard."

"Whatever it is, do it" Vegeta said violently.

"Alright" Sonic said, holding his arm out to his side, opening his hand out wide. With a bright flash of light, a large blade fell into his hand. "Caliburn, I need your help" he said to the blade.

"Are you, talking, to a sword?" Vegeta questioned.

"I am no common blade, my fine sir" Caliburn responded, shocking the two Saiyans.

"It, it can talk?" Vegeta sputtered.

"We'll have time for this later" Sonic said. "Caliburn, you know what I have in mind?"

"Indeed Sir Sonic" Caliburn responded. "I remember precisely what I felt last time, and I am perfectly capable of recreating it."

"Right, let's go!" Sonic said loudly, his voice full of confidence.

Caliburn began to glow brightly, outshining even Broly's green aura. The glow traveled up Sonic's arm, leaving a brilliant golden armor behind. The glow travelled across his entire body, sheathing him in the golden mail. A long red cape extended from his back, waving in the air.

"Well this is new" Shadow commented in an even voice.

Sonic reached his gauntleted hand up, pulling down his visor, and as he did, armor shot across his spines. With his other hand, Caliburn was swung out at Broly, a beam of sun-like light firing out from the hilt. As the light faded, an entirely new blade was revealed.

"Let us do this, Sir Sonic, Knight of the Wind!" Excalibur said.

"You've been holding out, Sonic" Shadow grinned. "You never told me that you had a title like that."

"Sorry, Shadow. Just got it recently" Excalibur Sonic said. He looked down towards his blade. "I'm not sure, with how powerful Broly is, that Excalibur will be enough on his own. Time to mix and match a few forms I guess."

"Wait, did you just say, _Excalibur?_ " Shadow asked, impressed.

"Yup" Excalibur Sonic said, summoning the Super Emeralds around him. "Maybe if I combine the power of my Hyper Form, I might be able to do something" he reasoned as the massive reservoir of Chaos Energy streamed into his armor. Within the confines of his visor, a bright aurora of light began to shine forth.

Sonic swung Excalibur to the side and turned his head over his shoulder. "Guys, hurry it up. I'm not sure how much time that I'll be able to buy" he finished, taking off into the air, a golden light streaming behind him.

"TAAAAAKKKEEEE THIS!" Hyper Excalibur Sonic shouted, swinging Excalibur, sending out a multicolored sword beam towards the Legendary Super Saiyan.

"What, the insect returns?" LSSJ Broly laughed, not bothering to move to block the blow.

The sword beam struck Broly directly in the chest, creating a small explosion of energy. "Hrr, perhaps the bug has slightly more power than I gave him credit for" he grunted, the sword beam leaving a mark, almost cutting the skin. Sonic had disappeared when the beam connected.

"Where did-" LSSJ Broly asked before he felt something rush past, before Broly was blown away by a massive explosion.

Sonic rested beside where Broly had been, Excalibur by his side. Sonic had rushed Broly, and used Excalibur to slice the planet-demolishing blast he had prepared in half, causing it to detonate.

"Pest!" LSSJ Broly bellowed, launching a large green ball of energy at Sonic.

"You know, insults aren't going to get you anywhere fast" Hyper Excalibur Sonic said cockily, holding Excalibur sideways in front of him and creating a barrier of swirling white energy, cancelling out the blast Broly had thrown at him. "Now then, let's try a neat little technique I've been working on."

Sonic flipped backwards, then straightened out and boosted towards Broly. He followed up by placing Excalibur in front of him and spinning through the air. "Spiral Strike, yeah, that sounds like a good name" he thought as he went after Broly.

Broly crossed his arms in front of him and prepared for Sonic to come. When Sonic collided with Broly, he swiped his arms apart, knocking him aside.

"But, how, that should have drilled right through you" Hyper Excalibur Sonic stammered.

Broly tapped his gilded wristbands, smirking. "Wow, who would've thought that you were saved by bling?" Hyper Excalibur Sonic asked.

Broly went after Sonic, swinging at him. Sonic went on autopilot, ducking, spinning, cutting, guarding, anything to avoid one of Broly's attacks.

"You know, I never had Sonic pegged as a swordsman" Shadow said, watching the battle. "I'm surprised, after the beating that brute gave us earlier, I would have thought it impossible to do anything to him."

"Some techniques or fighting styles can give an edge, even against more powerful opponents" Goku said slowly, still concentrating on lowering his power level. "My friend Piccolo has this move, called Special Beam Cannon. It can pierce right through his enemies, letting him take out enemies even more powerful than him. I also used to use a technique, called Kaioken, which multiplied my power and speed, even if it was a bit dangerous."

"If you have a technique that powerful, then why didn't you use it to take down the green haired freak?" Shadow asked.

"Are you kidding?" Goku laughed. "With how powerful I've become, if I use even my lowest multiplier, I would probably disintegrate on the spot from the overload of power. Anyways, swords can be really powerful, and with how easily they slice through things, combined with Sonic's and that sword's power, it's no surprise he was able to begin to pressure Broly."

Shadow looked back into the air as Goku went back to focusing all of his energy on lowering his power.

Sonic and Broly were now locked into furious combat. Excalibur blurred through the air so fast, all it looked like was a cloud of golden particles, yet Broly was able to trade blows with Sonic just as fast as Sonic was able to swing his sword.

"I, will not, let you, knock me down, _again!_ " Hyper Excalibur Sonic said vehemently.

"Sorry, I don't listen to bugs" LSSJ Broly laughed maniacally, not faltering as he mocked the hedgehog.

"Well…" Hyper Excalibur Sonic began, "listen, _to this!_ " he shouted, slipping backwards and slicing Excalibur downwards through the air, releasing a blue blade of energy at Broly. Broly didn't have a chance to block or dodge, and it connected directly, causing a deep green gash to appear in Broly's torso.

"He just channeled Sonic Wind through his sword!" Shadow exclaimed. "And look at that cut!"

"Yeah, but he better finish Broly off quick, or stall until we're ready" Goku said. "If Broly has a chance to recover at all, he's going to go beyond anything Sonic can handle."

"Yes, you should never underestimate the strength of a Zenkai boost" Vegeta conceded.

"Zenkai?" Shadow asked.

"To put it briefly, whenever a Saiyan recovers from a major wound, they come back even more powerful than before. The more severe the wound, the bigger the power increase" Vegeta explained briefly.

"I see" Shadow said, turning his attention back to the battle.

Vegeta looked at Goku. "Kakarot, we're almost even" he said.

"Yeah" Goku grunted. "It's getting harder to lower my power, though. I feel completely exposed right now."

"Don't forget, your god powers will come in very handy once we've fused" Vegeta said.

"Right" Goku said, forcing his powers down further.

Up at the battle, Broly was now playing things slightly more defensive. Broly flew back through the air, gathering green energy in his hand. Broly smashed the Blaster Shell he prepared between his hands and pushed it towards Sonic, coming out as his Trap Shooter.

Sonic smirked behind his visor. He launched himself at Broly, using his Quick-Dash to skillfully avoid every single projectile, before spinning at Broly, cleaving the sword downwards at Saiyan's head. Broly, however, countered by raising his arm, once again, blocking a fatal strike using his wristbands.

Broly grinned with wrath, reaching his free hand back and pounding it into Sonic's gut, crumpling it like tinfoil. Sonic was no longer smirking, and was now coughing up blood inside of the armor, it leaking out of his visor.

Broly brought his fist up and prepared to send Sonic flying into the planet. He raised his fist, swung it down, and…

" _WAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHH!_ " LSSJ Broly cried out as his hand was pierced by Excalibur. Sonic had rolled and brought Excalibur up as Broly planned to hammer down on him. However, he hadn't counted on Broly to not react, so it came as a surprise when green liquid spewed from Broly's hand.

"YOU!" LSSJ Broly screeched, unleashing a furious attack on Sonic's head, denting the helm, then successfully spiking sonic to the dirt. Broly followed the falling hedgehog and unleashed a furious barrage of attacks, pounding him further into the ground. It wasn't long before there was a bright flash of light as the Super Emeralds briefly materialized and vanished.

"He's fallen out of Hyper Form" Shadow said, gripping his wrists. "I'm going to be able to but you two a few more seconds, _so hurry up!_ " he shouted.

Shadow summoned the Super Emeralds himself, erupting in a bright light, going Hyper.

"You seriously think that will buy any time?" Vegeta said. "Have you forgotten that you did absolutely nothing to him when you transformed earlier?"

"I'm pulling out all the stops this time" Hyper Shadow said, gripping his wrist with his hand, giving it a sharp twist as a small golden object fell to the ground. He repeated to process with his other wrist, and as he did, his aura steadily went crimson.

"HrrrrrrrRRRRAAAAHHHHH!" Hyper Shadow yelled, his power turning the sky red. "BROLY!" he challenged.

Broly looked up, stopping his brutal beating of Sonic to observe his new challenger. "YOUR FIGHT IS WITH ME, NOW! BEHOLD, THE ULTIMATE POWER!"

Shadow disappeared, slamming into Broly with his maximum power, striking him hard enough to knock him backwards a few meters.

Shadow used Chaos Control to vanish and reappear, bending time and space to strike just as hard as before, this time hitting Broly's cut, causing him to double over in pain.

However, even though he had only struck twice, Shadow felt his power slipping away. On the spot, he decided the best way to use that last of his power, would be the same way he used it the last time he removed his Inhibitor Rings.

"Alright, here goes" Hyper Shadow thought. "Chaos…" he said, disappearing with Chaos Control, before reappearing right before Broly.

"What?" Broly asked, looking down at the hedgehog before him.

Shadow smirked. "BLAST!" he shouted, unleashing a massive wave of Chaos Energy, enveloping the entire area.

 _Can you see all of me, walk into my mystery, step inside and hold on for dear life!_

 _Do you remember me, capture you or set you free, I am all, I am all of me!_

(A/N: Sorry, just had to)

As the red light cleared, Shadow used any speck of energy he had left to jump backwards, knowing that he had not finished Broly, not by a long shot.

The smoke cleared to reveal a gasping Saiyan clutching his chest. "Apparently Goku isn't the only one who can't stand Chaos attacks" he chuckled lightly

"You, pesky bug" Broly said, standing back up and glaring at Shadow, who had reverted to base form. "You, will, DIE!" he roared, gathering another blast in his hand.

"No, I can't move fast enough" Shadow said, attempting to charge up energy, but his body couldn't handle it at the moment. As a last resort, Shadow created a ball of yellow energy in his hand, planning to go out with one final Chaos Spear.

Goku gasped. "Vegeta, NOW!"

Shadow looked over his shoulder. "Just in time" he thought.

Goku and Vegeta struck a pose, sticking their arms out opposite each other. "Fuuuuuuuu…" they said, shuffling towards each other and swinging their arms around. "...Sion…" they continued, bracing their outer legs against their inner ones, and moving their arms back across.

"Time to get out of the way" Shadow thought, absorbing the Chaos Spear to gain Chaos Energy. He then used Chaos Control to teleport away, pick up Sonic, and move behind the duo.

"HAAA!" the two yelled, leaning towards each other and touching fingers.

Between the two, a brilliant white light appeared, turning the duo into silhouettes within. The two silhouettes moved towards each other, still frozen in position, until they were overlapping each other. Then, an even brighter light flashed through the area, then faded.

In the spot between where Goku and Vegeta had once stood, a new figure stood before them. A figure within a golden flame-like aura stood staring down Broly. The new entity was taller than either of the two had been, if only slightly. It also had shining blonde, uplifted hair with a single bang in front of his face, and was wearing an orange and black vest, white pants, and black boots.

Sonic coughed weakly and sat up, the armor dissipating into golden light. "Well, at least they finally fused" he said weakly.

"Question is, what do we call him?" Shadow asked.

The fused being turned around to face the two hedgehogs. "I was created between Goku and Vegeta, but I am neither. I am Gogeta!" Super Gogeta said. He turned to face the wounded Saiyan. "Now, time to finish this pathetic excuse of Saiyan blood off!"

Gogeta dashed at Broly, seemingly striking him several times before he even reached him. Broly was staggered backwards as each hit struck home.

Gogeta vanished and reappeared behind Broly, bashing him in the back of the head with his knee, forcing him to bend over. Gogeta smashed Broly a second time, then flipped back, striking Broly into the ground with a mighty flipkick.

As Broly crashed down to the ground, Gogeta landed lightly with his back turned behind him, hand raised into the air.

A rainbow ball of energy appeared above Gogeta's raised hand. Gogeta turned around and stared Broly down with a hard face. "This will end it, STARDUST BREAKER" Super Gogeta shouted, crushing the rainbow energy in his hand and tossing a storm of glitter at Broly, swirling through the air.

The glitter made contact with the Legendary Super Saiyan and entered his body. Broly curled up as the glitter and a black mist left his body and evaporated into the air.

Broly was left barely breathing on the ground, yet he somehow survived the the might Stardust Breaker. "Well, look who's still alive" Super Gogeta said. "My bad, let's rectify that" he said, leaping into the air, flipping over and striking a kick out towards Broly.

However, just before Gogeta struck a deadly blow, the air around Broly distorted and collapsed inwards, and Broly disappeared, leaving Gogeta to strike the ground, his leg being buried in the ground up to his hip.

Gogeta pulled himself out and dusted off his pants. "Look's like that swine got away" he mumbled.

Gogeta turned around and saw the hedgehogs and Kais walking towards him. "Okay, I will never be satisfied until we can do something like that as Shadic" Sonic laughed, bumping into Shadow.

"I will admit, I didn't expect a Fusion Warrior to use a 'pretty' attack" Shadow said. "But it was pretty sick.

Gogeta smirked. "Yeah, well, I'm pretty much the only one whe can fight with rainbows and glitter and still look like a badass" he smirked.

"Great, two Saiyans together, and they find a way to be more than twice as arrogant" Old Kai huffed.

* * *

 **30 minutes later…**

* * *

With a bright flash of light and a light popping sound, Gogeta diffused into Goku and Vegeta.

"Ugh, finally, free" Vegeta muttered, glad to be de-fused from Goku.

"I wish we could have been up to see that battle, it sounded awesome" a newly awakened Tails said.

The group had decided to wait for Gogeta to diffuse before they continued on their way. Now that he had, it was time to bring up…

"How can we ever thank you guys for saving our planet?" Kibito Kai asked.

"Hmm" Goku thought hard. "I'm not sure exactly what…" then something he said earlier occurred to him. "Oh, I know."

"Well, just say it, anything" Kibito Kai said.

Goku turned to Old Kai. "Hey, do you think that you could unlock the potential of these guys?" he asked, gesturing to Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Tails, and Knuckles.

"What, you expect me to unlock the hidden powers of five people because you saved our planet?" Old Kai asked.

"Ancestor, think about what you said" Kibito Kai said.

"...Oh yeah, huh" Old Kai chuckled. He sighed. "Well, I guess that I could do that, you just know that it would take a while, right?"

"Hey, as long as they are up to it, it should be fine" Goku assured.

"So, um, how long exactly does this usually take?" Sonic asked.

"Well, depending on how much power you have within you, it could take around 25 hours of hard meditation, more if you have massive reservoirs of power" Old Kai said.

"Twe-twe-twenty five, you know what, if it brings out as much power as you say, that seems fair" Sonic switched gears.

"Now then, before we begin, let's see exactly what I'm working with" Old Kai said, shuffling up to the members of the team and holding his hand out, starting in front of Sonic. "Hmm, I sense great power within, a nearly untapped strength, as well as latent abilities that could be brought to the surface through my gift."

Old Kai moved to Shadow. "Oh yes, you contain much strength, in fact, you could probably give Goku's son a run for his money in terms of your hidden strength."

"Wow, he could seriously match Gohan?" Goku asked in awe. He turned to Shadow. "You may need to be my new sparring partner after this" he chuckled.

Old Kai shifted his hand towards Silver. "Hmm, quite interesting here as well. Some power is present, yes, but I sense a great skill within you. Perhaps, an even greater extension of the Psychokinesis you have already utilized so well."

Looking at Tails, he continued. "You, I sense an odd strength within you. You have much more power than you realize, and perhaps once you feel it, it will bring out the courage you need to fully use it."

Tails looked down in embarrassment. "Come on, you don't need to unlock my power, I'm more of a tech guy."

"Come on, Tails" Goku said. "I didn't start training you the other day for nothing. Believe in yourself."

"Anyways…" Old Kai said, turning to Knuckles. "I sense an amazing power within you, a power that could potentially shake worlds."

"Please, I already can do that" Knuckles laughed. "I once caused a volcano to erupt because I punched the ground."

"This young generation, this power will be beyond anything you can imagine" Old Kai huffed. He turned to Goku. "It seems that you have brought me some worthy candidates to have their potential unlocked."

"Just like I knew they would be" Goku beamed.

Old Kai rubbed his hands together. "So, who would like to have their potential unlocked first?" he asked the group.

After a moment of silence. "I will" the blue hedgehog said, stepping up.

"Very well, come over here, and sit" Old Kai said, walking over to one of the few not destroyed clearings in the Sacred World of the Kais.

"I just hope I can stay still, or for that matter, awake for how long this will take" Sonic muttered as he walked away.

"Goku, Vegeta, I have a little thank you for you guys as well" Kibito Kai said, reaching into his pockets, and pulled out a pair of small red orbs on chains.

Vegeta audibly snarled. "Seriously, are you trying to destroy all of your sacred possessions?"

"Now now, before you crush these too, let me explain something to you" Kibito Kai said. "Now, I know that the reason you two crushed the first two pairs of Potara earings we gave you was because you two didn't want to stay fused forever, even though the power of Vegito was amazing. Well, what if I told you that with this pair of Potara, you would be able to defuse whenever you wanted?"

"Wow, no joke?" Goku asked.

"No joke" Kibito Kai said. "I made a special pair of them which allow to defuse, just by pulling them out. Go on, try them" he urged them, handing the pair each on of the Potara. "And Vegeta, please just try it, don't crush it."

"Fine" Vegeta huffed, clipping the earing onto his left ear.

"Well, let's try it" Goku said, clipping his onto his right ear. A second later, his feet left the ground as he and Vegeta flew towards each other.

The two collided, and in a flash of light, they merged into one being. The light faded fast, revealing a new being, dressed in a blue gi and orange undershirt, and tall, spiky, black hair with two bangs.

Vegito flexed his arms. "Man, I never thought that I would see the light of day again" he chuckled. "Well, not entirely. It's kind of hard to describe what it's like to not exist, yet experience all the time you didn't."

"Well, go ahead and try to pull them out" Kibito Kai urged.

"Meh, might as well" Vegito shrugged, reaching up and pulling out both Potara simultaneously. There was a loud popping sound, and Goku and Vegeta flew apart, landing in the dirt.

"Okay, I'll admit, that's kind of cool" Goku said, standing up. "Thanks a lot, Kibito Kai" Goku said graciously.

"No problem, you did save our planet, after all" Kibito Kai said.

Goku stretched his arms and yawned. "Well, I think I may catch a nap while Sonic is having his potential unlocked" he said.

"You know, that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea for once" Vegeta said. "Time to go see if any trees survived that attack earlier, because for once, I am truly tired."

So after the long battle, Goku and Vegeta went off to sleep, while over in the distance, a certain blue hedgehog watched with longing, and thinking that he should have gone to take a nap before agreeing to a 25 hour period of sitting, awake, concentrating, not able to do anything…

* * *

 **And that's a wrap. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The only announcement I have to make** **the question of whether or not you guys want a time skip in this story to skip to the good stuff. I've set up a poll on the subject, so I really need some feedback to decide what to do. Anyways, please review this chapter, and I will see you next time.**


	21. New Heights

**And here I am again, back with another chapter of Joined Worlds. Sorry that it's taken so long to update, things have been rough around here, between a long spree of getting sick and a rather major family emergency (so cut me some slack for taking so long is what I'm saying). Quick announcement, I have only gotten a single response to the poll placed on my profile about performing a timeskip here in the story. I'm telling you now that this chapter will include a small timeskip, mainly because I feel like you guys don't want an entire chapter full of Sonic waiting and complaining. However, I plan to make quite the skip right around the corner, in order to get to some of the great chapters I have planned, and frankly, ones that I'm excited about writing. Anyways, if you want the story to have some filler chapters with some adventures, so no to the timeskip in the poll. Otherwise, vote yes or stay out, your preference. Anyways, I'm skipping up to just about the time Elder Kai unlocked the potential of the final member of Sonic's team. Let's get on with the story!**

* * *

 **Sacred World of the Kais…**

* * *

"Aaaaaaaand, done" Elder Kai coughed.

Tails' eyes shot open. "Whew, that's a relief. It'll be good to move again" he said.

"Eh, sitting for five days straight on this old back of mine isn't doing me any favors" Elder Kai said. "You're lucky I felt so generous."

Tails pushed himself to his feet. "I am very grateful, Mr. Kai" Tails said, bowing respectfully.

A heavy wind overtook the group as Sonic arrived in a blur, skidding to a halt. "You're done now, Tails?"

Tails nodded in response. "Sweet, does that mean that we can finally test these new powers without disturbing anything?" Sonic asked excitedly of the Elder Kai.

"Yes, that is correct. But please, try mov-" Elder Kai began to say.

"Alright!" Sonic cheered, getting into a power stance, creating an aura around him.

"Wait, WAIT!" Elder Kai exclaimed, but it was too late. I wave of energy shot out around around Sonic, knocking the grass flat, making trees groan, causing Tails to struggle to stay standing, and moon launching Elder Kai into the distance, squealing "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Sonic was surrounded in a pale blue, swirling aura of energy, as if the winds themselves were surrounding him. His green eyes had become sharp, and his spikes were floating freely, as if he had gone Super.

He looked down at himself. "Wow, I didn't know that it was possible to feel this powerful without using Chaos Energy" he commented. He soared into the air, spinning and testing out his new speed. He fell back down slowly. "Aw, but I still can't fly."

Tails rubbed his eyes. "Sonic, did you see how high you went? You don't even need to fly if you can move like that!"

Sonic pointed at Tails. "Come on buddy, let's see what you can do."

"Well, I guess that I didn't sit through that entire day for nothing. Let's see what it did" Tails said.

Tails stopped moving, his eyes closed and his head leaned down. Not even his tails twitched. Suddenly, a bright orange light flashed into existence, surrounding Tails completely, emanating from him as light does from a light bulb.

Tails brought his head up, his eyes shooting open. His iris' were now much sharper, as Sonic's had been, although his were blue, not green. "I, I feel, great!" Tails said.

The duo then heard a voice above them. "Hey guys, I felt the power spike, that's some incredible strength."

The two looked up to see Goku flying down towards them. "Yeah, your telling us" Sonic called back, grinning from ear to ear.

"So, I guess that Old Kai really came through, huh?" Goku asked.

"Yes, and that is the last time I do that with someone of these younger generations" Elder Kai sputtered as he came crawling back. "First with your son, and now with these forest creatures. Each time, they don't even have the common courtesy of moving away from the one who gave them their new powers before trying them."

"Whoops, sorry about that" Sonic chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm not big on waiting. I didn't know that it would blow you away like that."

"Hmmph, impatient younger generations" Elder Kai mumbled, but didn't pursue the subject any further.

"So Goku, did you see where Shadow, Knuckles, or Silver ran off to?" Tails asked.

"Well, I saw Shadow and Silver discussing something, but I wasn't going to eavesdrop on them. Knuckles was resting somewhere over there when I last saw him" Goku said.

"Well, let's go find them! I really want to see what they can do with their unlocked powers" Sonic exclaimed.

"No need to worry, they found you" a voice behind Sonic spoke.

Sonic turned around and saw Shadow and Silver standing behind him. "You may want to tone it down a bit, Sonic. We felt the winds almost knock us into the ground when you powered up" Shadow said with an extremely faint grin. "And I must say, that is pretty impressive."

Sonic stretched on the ground. "I don't know whether this new power is doing it, or if your fighting spirit is rubbing off on me, Goku, but I've got this urge to test out these new powers of mine. Who wants to spar?" he asked.

"Well who else did you expect to speak up first" Shadow said almost immediately, stepping forward. "Our battles on the ARK were one thing, but with these new powers, a battle now should be on a whole new level."

Shadow braced himself on the ground in a power stance. His quills uplifted slightly, and an aura of power began to emanate from him, pushing everything back. Slowly, a red light began to seep from his body, covering himself in an erratic lightning-like energy. Small bits of the ground began to levitate and disintegrate. Shadow's eyes suddenly widened as a massive pillar of red light shot into the sky, cloaking Shadow within it.

The pillar shrunk, condensing on Shadow, until he was within a ball of bright red light, electrical-like energy shooting across his skin. "Ah, I feel more Chaos power than I ever have, more than I even felt in Hyper Form or Chaos Boost. The old purple prune wasn't exaggerating when he said that this power would be beyond anything we have ever experienced."

Sonic's windy aura flared up. "Ok. Goku, you are definitely rubbing off on me. I've never felt this much excitement before a fight" he accused.

Goku laughed. "Hey, don't use up all that enthusiasm while you spar with Shadow. I want to feel what you can do first-hand as well."

"I'm not sure" Sonic joked. "You've completely overridden my normal fighting spirit. I may not be able to hold back."

"Hey, I could spar a bit with you" Knuckles said. "I have a feeling that I could do this without hitting you so hard that you lose some of your flesh into oblivion."

"You sound pretty confident, but you haven't even powered up yet" Goku commented.

"Well, I may not be exactly as powerful as Sonic or Shadow," Knuckles said, "But if the power-up that the Old Guy gave me is on the same tier as them, then I feel like I should be able to match you."

"It's Kai, not Guy" Elder Kai grumbled.

"Potato Potahto" Knuckles shrugged. He turned to the side. "Hey Silver, you and me are the only one's who are left out at this point. On three?"

"Sure thing, Knuckles" Silver agreed.

"Alright, THREE" Knuckles shouted.

The echidna and the hedgehog each took a power stance. The ground around Knuckles began to glow like lava, while a mysterious green flame-like aura began to flare up around Silver.

The energy around Knuckles began to boil upwards from the ground, covering Knuckles in a layer of lava-esque energy, simultaneously appearing as a fluid and an energy, making Knuckles appear to burn as bright as a star.

Meanwhile, the flame creeping up around Silver flared up, erupting into an inferno, giving Silver an appearance similar to that of Fire Sonic with green flames. The psychokinetic veins in Silver's hands began to glow even brighter, shining outwards like searchlights.

The bright aura of each of them faded slightly, revealing them in their new ultimate states. Knuckles burned in a sheen of magma-like energy, while Silver was cloaked in a burning green flame.

"Wow" was all Silver had to say.

Knuckles threw a few punches in the air at lightning speed. "Even when we fought Metal Sonic up in Eggman's fleet, I've never felt this powerful" he praised.

Silver lifted his hand ever so slightly, and up with it, a massive chunk of the terrain came levitating up out of the ground. "It's never been this easy to move stuff before" Silver said. "I feel like I control matter itself."

"Again, with the unbelief! Why does everyone doubt my abilities?" Elder Kai complained.

"Well excuse me, but short of watching Goku fight a bit earlier, we don't usually see anything on this level of power" Sonic said.

"Well, Sonic, why are we still waiting?" Shadow asked.

"One sec, Shadow" Sonic said. He turned to face Elder Kai and Kibito Kai. "Hey, is it alright if me and Shadow spar here?"

"Eh, this part of the planet is already totaled anyways" Elder Kai said. "Sure, go and have a little match. Just please, try to keep from destroying it any more."

Sonic grinned. "Sweet. Thanks."

Shadow cracked his neck. "How long has it been, Sonic?"

"Since the ARK at least" Sonic replied.

"Well, let's see if we can't top that, shall we?"

Sonic nodded. Simultaneously, the two of them leapt high into the air, settling down a small distance away from the others, in a reasonably flat portion of the land. For a moment, the only thing that moved was their spikes, then…

The two hedgehogs vanished, and a mighty shockwave blasted outwards from in between the two, as the reappeared, as if jumping out of hyperspace. The backed up from each other, then sprang high into the air, spinning and clashing with each other repeatedly with their Homing Attacks. They climbed high into the air before uncurling and going hand-to-hand with each other, falling from the sky.

Sonic twisted away from one of Shadow's blows, then flipped forward and brought his foot down hard on Shadow's head, rocketing towards the surface of the planet. As Shadow meteored downwards, he looked directly back at Sonic, then vanished. He reappeared back behind Sonic, using his still built up momentum to slam into him, taking them both down to the surface.

Sonic broke away from Shadow and spun, bouncing off of the ground and landing on his feet. Shadow righted himself and landed on the ground feet first, cracking the ground on impact.

Sonic warmed up his shoulder. "Well, we've seen a hint of what our skills and speed are like now. Shall we test our powers out now?"

Shadow flashed a rare grin. "You read my mind."

Both of their auras intensified. Sonic became surrounded in a personal hurricane, while Shadow turned into a Chaos power plant.

Goku let out a low whistle. "Are you guys feeling that?" He asked.

Tails nodded. "It's only been like 30 seconds, but this is already one of the coolest fights I've seen. Well, not counting what's happened in the last few days, but still."

Sonic and Shadow took off, sprinting parallel to one another down the plains. Countless orbs of yellow energy began forming in the air and pelting themselves at Sonic, while blades of wind appeared in the air, slicing through each individual Chaos Spear.

The two leapt up slightly and collided kicks once more, evenly matched, then separated and came to a halt. Sonic put his hands together and unleashed a hailstorm of Sonic Wind blasts, while Shadow thrust his hand outwards and sent an equally blazing barrage of Chaos Spears to match Sonic's attacks. Explosions began heating the air as the attacks collided. The two leapt backwards as the final attacks connected. Sonic waved his arm to the left through the air, and Shadow snapped his fingers. A hardened pocket of wind came soaring in and struck Shadow sideways, while an explosion of Chaos energy sent Sonic flying backwards through the air.

Sonic got up gingerly. "Well, it's about time we land some sort of major blow on each other. We were exactly even, blow for blow for a while there."

Shadow rubbed the side of his head. "Yeah, but who knew that wind could hit so hard?"

"Yeah, sorry, I guess I got a little carried away" Sonic said. "But even so, how would you like to kick things up a notch?"

"Why not?" Shadow said simply.

Sonic thought for a second, then a thought occurred to him. "Hey Old Kai!" he called out. "Do you reckon that the whole potential unlocking thing that you did would help us control that _ki_ any better?"

"Well, with how it trained your bodies, it would certainly make it easier to harness it, but you still need to know how to use it" Elder Kai answered back.

"Well, Goku taught me a bit" Sonic shrugged. "He taught you just a little bit too, right?"

"Some, it wasn't to different that controlling Chaos, just drawing from a different source that I had to learn to tap into" Shadow said.

"What do you say that we at least try to use those skills to go Super?" Sonic offered.

"Well, worth a try. It would probably be useful to learn how to go Super without relying on Chaos" Shadow conceded.

"Then we have an agreement. But remember, please. This isn't a real fight, no sucker punches before we're both there" Sonic said.

"Well enough, let's go" Shadow agreed.

Sonic and Shadow both began concentrating, building up their energy.

(A/N: Before I get any comments about how Sonic and Shadow have already gone Super without the Emeralds previously. This is them going Super off of _Ki,_ not the inner Chaos energy that they've used in the past)

The blue winds around Sonic began to glow gold, and the Chaos energy enshrouding Shadow began to glow pure white. It was gradual, but their fur began to glow with the color of the Super Forms. Sonic's quills shot up, and his fur briefly changed to a stunning golden yellow, which then faded away. Shadow too went through a similar transformation, just as brief.

"Hrrgh, this, this is quite a bit harder than doing it with Chaos" Shadow grunted.

"Heh, heh, you aren't, giving up already, are you?" Sonic asked, chuckling through his panting.

"You wish" Shadow shot back.

"Alright, NO HOLDING BACK!" Sonic yelled, opening himself up and unleashing his full energy.

"FULL POWER!" Shadow shouted, bringing out his maximum strength.

Using every ounce of willpower, the two of them opened the floodgates, tapping even deeper into their _ki_ than they had yet. The both of them erupted into pillars of light, bursting into their Super Forms.

Both of them stood in their Super Forms, for a moment. The two of them collapsed to their hands and knees, panting heavily. "Let's, let's just stick to Chaos energy in the future" Super Sonic gasped.

"Yeah, let's stick to that agreement" Super Shadow wheezed out. "That was not easy in the slightest."

Sonic got shakily to his feet. "Well, let's get back at it" he said.

Shadow nodded and stood up as well. The duo began ascending upwards to continue their very intense sparring match.

"Whoa, how, what? They went Super, without Chaos, on their first try?!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Wow, I probably shouldn't be making them mad anytime soon, heheheh…"

"I'm never going to keep up with them, am I?" Silver asked.

"Well, you just have to keep up on your training, don't you?" Goku asked. "I've got a pretty good read for how strong someone is, and you aren't as far from Sonic and Shadow as you may think."

Sonic and Shadow hovered several hundred feet above the ground, facing each other once again. Both of them curled into a ball and spun, gathering energy, until it hung on them with a crystalline sheen.

Tails smirked. "Well Goku, you may have quick eyes, but I don't think that even _you_ will be able to keep track of this."

"Why's that?" Goku asked.

His question was answered as Sonic and Shadow uncurled for a brief moment, before vanishing. Within a moment, the air was filled with clashes.

"Whoa, I don't think that even Beerus moved that fast" Goku exclaimed.

"Now now, you wouldn't want him to hear that, now would you?" A new voice said behind them.

Goku, Tails, Knuckles, Silver, Elder Kai, and Kibito Kai all turned around at hearing the new voice. Having appeared behind them was a tall man with pale blue skin and tall white hair, holding a blue and gold staff.

"Whis?" Goku asked.

"Why hello again, Goku" Whis greeted. "How is godhood treating you?"

"It's pretty cool being this powerful, although it makes Vegeta a bit upset."

"Ah, yes. He is quite the proud fellow, and being so outmatched is definitely a wound to his ego" Whis reasoned. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

"Somewhere taking a nap, he didn't want to see our friends testing out their new powers" Goku said.

"New friends?" Whis asked. "Ah, I assume you mean these three and the two up in the air? Hmm…"

"What is it?"

"Oh, I'm not sure it's my place to say, at least not yet" Whis answered cryptically.

"So mysterious, but Whis, what are you doing here?" Goku asked.

"Oh, occasionally I drop by for a game of Mahjong with the Kais" Whis said. "It appears that I dropped in on a rather inopportune time, however. The planet seems to have suffered some slight damage."

"Slight, that's an understatement" Elder Kai huffed. "Some rouge Saiyan came and started destroying our sacred world."

"Oh, my apologies" Whis presented.

A sudden, impossibly loud sound cracking through the air drew the attention of the group back to the sparring match. The witnessed Sonic holding his hands out, and Shadow on the ground, fallen back to his base form.

"Okay, what the HECK did I just do?" Sonic asked, dropping out of Super Form as well. "I didn't kill him, did I?"

"No, but you gave me one heck of a migraine, what feels like a burst eardrum, and a very sore face" Shadow groaned standing up. "What was that, some sort of focused sound beam?"

"A Sonic Boom?" Sonic offered.

"Sure felt like one when it hit my ears" Shadow said. "Maybe one of your new powers, producing sonicbooms."

"Sorry about that Shadow" Sonic said. "I guess that we're done for now."

"Yeah, not after that right there" Shadow agreed.

Sonic offered Shadow a hand up, then the two of them walked back over to the group. "Hey, who's the new guy?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, this is Whis" Goku said. "He's Beerus' teacher."

"Beerus, that guy you fought, the god?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, I am the teacher of the God of Destruction" Whis said.

"Well, nice to meet ya'. I'm Sonic" Sonic introduced himself.

"My name is Shadow" Shadow did likewise.

"So, how do you guys feel?" Goku asked.

Sonic grinned. "Tired, but hyped. I never knew that I had powers like these inside me. Although, it's kind of a bummer that this is about as strong as I'll ever get. Elder Kai did say that this was all of the power that my body possessed."

"It is?" Goku asked, turning to Elder Kai.

"Well, it's all his current body can handle. It's kind of like jars of different sizes, each one can only hold a certain amount of substance" Elder Kai explained. "If you condition your body, make yourself stronger instead of working on your power, your body will be able to handle more power, therefore, you will be able to increase your power beyond what you are at right now, with some further training."

"So, a body can get more powerful the more you train it…" Goku mused, trailing off.

"What?" Tails asked.

"Nothing, you ready for a little sparring yourself?" Goku asked.

"Sure, although I'm not sure how well I'll stack up against you" Tails said sheepishly, rubbing his head.

"Hey, don't worry about it" Goku laughed. "I've had a lifetime of experience, and you're still pretty young and new to this kind of fighting. I'll go easy."

Tails let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

"Besides, Tails, you know that you're stronger than you think, right?" Sonic said, walking up and clapping him on the back. "We've been buds as long as I can remember, and you are pretty much the only reason that I'm not dead, several times over. You know that you're awesome."

Tails looked down, embarrassedly. "Thanks Sonic, but that sounds a bit like family encouragement coming from you."

"I mean it, buddy" Sonic said. "Remember when we fought Metal Sonic, or that time we went to stop Eggman's Death Egg? Just think about what you've already done."

"Ok, thanks for that Sonic" Tails said, smiling. He took a deep breath then turned to Goku. "Ok, I think that I'm ready."

Goku got an excited expression on his face. "Awesome, I've been getting pumped for this" he said, doing a little fist pump, putting so much energy behind it that his hair flared up and turned blonde. "Whoops, sorry, got a little ahead of myself there" SSJ2 Goku said, reverting back to base form.

Tails scrunched his face and focused, his orange aura flaring up. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

 **Later…**

* * *

Tails collapsed to the ground, exhausted. Goku was slightly winded, but not to the same extent. "And that was without you using that Super Saiyan. You are way out of my league" Tails panted.

"Hey, you did good up there, Tails" Goku said.

"Are you kidding? I swing my tails full force, and you barely flinch. You push your hand at me, I crash into a mountain" Tails said.

"Well, I have had a lot more practice. If you keep up with your training, I'm sure you'll be top tier in no time. Maybe you'll even be able to take on Nazo solo" Goku said.

"Sorry, Goku, but you're being impractical now" Tails laughed. "If Shadic had trouble beating him, we're not going to be beating him solo, any of us."

"Eh" was Goku's only response.

Tails pushed himself to his feet using his tails. "Ok, well, we've been here for about a week, and the only thing that everyone else knows is that we went here long ago. Don't you think that it's time that we head back?"

"Oh, yeah, I suppose that we should. I really don't like making them mad, especially Chi-Chi" Goku shivered.

Knuckles laughed. "The only one more dangerous than a god. His wife."

"Oooohhhh" Goku groaned.

"Well, I suppose that it is time that I head back as well" Whis said, standing up. "Well played, Elder Kai."

"Hey, just out of curiosity, how far away is your home?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, I'd say approximately a quadrant and a half away" Whis said.

"Wow, it must be a long trip back then" Sonic said, letting out a low whistle.

"Well, about a half an hour away, at least" Whis said.

"Half an-, you're saying that you can fly across half the freakin universe in half an hour!?" Sonic exclaimed.

"Well, yes, I suppose" Whis said.

Sonic curled up on the ground. "Does, does this mean that I'm not the fastest thing alive anymore?"

"Well, technically, I am a deity. We live on a different plane than you mortals."

"Still, I used to pride myself on being able to fly a few times the speed of light whenever I went Super, now I meet a guy who flies, what, Mach 9001?"

"That's of no matter" Whis said simply. Whis held out his hand and his staff floated into it. "Lord Beerus tends to get rather upset if he manages to wake up while I am not there. He destroyed the majority of his home the last time because I didn't leave him any sort of note" Whis chuckled lightly.

Whis raised his staff ever so slightly above the ground, when a voice rang out. "Wait!"

"Hm?" "Huh?" What?"

Goku came barreling through the group towards Whis. "Whis, you said that you're not only Beerus' master, you're his teacher, right?"

Whis nodded. "Indeed."

"Okay, then I have a request, Whis" Goku took a deep breath. "Could you, train me?"

Vegeta's eyes shot open and looked at Goku.

"You wish for me to train you?" Whis asked.

"Yeah, I had the idea when Elder Kai said that if you train your body, it is able to hold even more power, which means that it's possible to break your old maximum" Goku said. "And I'm still finding new, powerful opponents, and this can't be as strong as I can get."

"Ah, I see. As I recall, though, you told me that you had no interest in becoming the next God of Destruction" Whis mused.

"Yeah, I don't want to take that job, but I always want to get stronger, that's always been my goal. To become the strongest one ever" Goku said. "So may you train me, please?"

"Well now, you are certainly a surprising being" Whis said. "When you first challenged Lord Beerus, I thought you were quite a unique individual, but now, I am truly surprised."

"So..?" Goku asked.

"Hm hm, yes, I suppose I will" Whis chuckled.

"ALLLLLRIGHT!" Goku cheered, jumping several hundred feet into the air in excitement.

"Well, do you have anything that you wish to take care of first, or are you ready to depart right now?" Whis asked once he had come back down to the surface.

"Hold up" Vegeta said harshly.

"What is it Vegeta?" Goku asked.

"Please, do you think that I would let you go get training to outpace me even further?" Vegeta asked. He bowed to Whis. "Please, accept me as your pupil as well."

"Ah, I see that I have two that desire my training. Hmm…" Whis said, examining Vegeta. "Are you sure that you will be able to keep up. Your friend Goku here has already ascended to a level that is beyond most, you may find the training rather, difficult."

"I can handle anything, just watch me" Vegeta assured.

"Very well, I assume that this will make for a more entertaining time during Lord Beerus' naps. You may join" Whis accepted.

"Thank you" Vegeta said respectfully, bowing again.

"Well, if that is all, I assume that we will be off?" Whis asked.

Goku and Vegeta nodded simultaneously. "Ok, come stand near me" he said.

Goku turned to Sonic. "Hey, can you tell everyone where we're going?"

"Um, yeah, sure. As long as you can promise me that your wife won't shoot the messenger" Sonic said.

"Can't promise that, but don't worry, you're fast" Goku laughed.

"Not helping" Sonic complained.

"And remember guys" Goku said as a white light overtook them. "Keep up on your training." A pillar of blueish-white light shot into the sky, carrying Whis, Goku, and Vegeta away.

"Speaking of leaving, are you guys ready to head back to Earth?" Kibito Kai asked.

"Yeah, I guess that we've kept everyone worrying for long enough. Let's go" Sonic nodded.

"Alright. Let's move. Everyone come stand near me" Kibito Kai said.

A chorus of "Right!" rang out, and the 5 of them stood by Kibito Kai. Moments later, they were soaring through space, rushing back home.

* * *

 **Neo-Eggmanland...**

* * *

Wave after wave of mechs were smashed into oblivion as multiple blasts of darkness were fired outwards.

"Much better than you had done previously" Nazo said. "You are a slow learner, yet your body is adjusting to utilizing Chaos much more efficiently than before."

"Don't tell me what I already know" Frieza spat. "What I am wondering is when you will actually start teaching me the ways I can strengthen. Relying on rocks is not fit for the ruler of space."

"Rocks? These rocks have the power to warp reality, cause mass destruction, and so much more, in the hands of an expert" Nazo said. "If you were to fight with either Sonic or Shadow, do you know what they could do to you?"

"Sniff and scavenge like a forest animal, what else?" Frieza mocked.

"No, you fool!" Nazo said angrily. "You still underestimate your opponents." He held his hand out and summon and emerald to his side. "With the power of Chaos, one can use Chaos Control, an ability that can manipulate the flow of time and space. Not only can it be used for teleportation, but this 'rock' can slow time to a crawl, except for the user. In the time it would take you to blink, the could deal a smiting blow, taking you down."

"So, and your point?" Frieza asked.

"My 'point' is that only someone who knows how to use Chaos themselves can break free of an active Chaos Control" Nazo said. "You were lucky enough that they didn't think to use it during your last encounter, yet they were able to beat you without it. Another flaw of yours is your solidarity. You have no partner, no team mate, nothing. Sonic and Shadow combined were able to overwhelm you." Nazo paused. "Ah, maybe that should be the next step in your training. Teamwork. Is there anyone who you may feel would be a suitable partner in battle for you?"

Frieza looked away, fuming. Nazo, however, smirked. "Ah, I think that I know."

"Know what?" Frieza spat.

Nazo turned with the emerald in his hand. "Rest up, tomorrow, we add a new member to the training regime." With a burst of dark energy, Nazo was gone.

* * *

 **Yes, I finally completed it. Sorry it took so long, but as I said, I've has some,** _ **ahem,**_ **family emergencies. Personal stuff. But anyways, the point is, it's out now. I'm not sure how many, if any can see what track this story is about to take, but soon, all of you will see. That's pretty much all for now. So I hope you enjoyed, type in a quick review on the chapter, and get hyped for the future. Later!**


	22. Let's Catch Up

**Good news guys! Since I'm deciding to put my other story on hiatus because it wasn't really that popular (which isn't so good for me, but still), that means that rather than alternating my efforts, all my writing time will be dedicated to Joined Worlds. Anyways, now, we are going to get into the chapters that I have been** _ **REALLY**_ **looking forward to writing. Here goes.**

* * *

 **Station Square (3 Months Later)...**

* * *

Ever since the major battle in the Sacred World of the Kais, peace has been, more or less, what had been reigning. The only signs of disturbance were infrequent robot raids by Eggman, still trying to conquer, but even those attempts took little effort to dispatch of.

Since then, during free time, Tails had taken to visiting Station Square. After learning the true identity of the city Gohan and Silver had saved from the collapsing building when they first came to the world, Tails travelled and learned that the dimensional distortion had also brought the reverse end of Mobius back, their own version of the Earth. Once there, after getting his bearings back again, he took to hanging out with…

"Hey Chris!" Tails called down, floating out of the sky.

A young, teenaged Chris sat on the balcony of his house. He was older that he had been when he had first met Sonic, yet he had not aged so far enough that he was back to where he was when he finished his portal. "Hey there Tails" he called back.

Tails stopped spinning his twin appendages and dropped down onto the deck. "How've you been this past week?"

"It's been good. Grandpa Chuck and I have been working a new plane, one that should be faster than the Tornado" Chris grinned. "I am looking forward to testing it. Speaking of the Tornado…" he hesitated. "Any word from Sonic?"

Tails sighed. "None. Sonic has been gone for almost two months now. All I know is that he left a note saying that he was going off on a search. He didn't specify. About the only other thing that we know is that Sally might have tagged along with him. Must have forced her way along, though, because Sonic said he was going alone."

"Man, do you have any idea of what he would be searching for?" Chris asked.

"I can't think of anything" Tails said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. After a moment of thinking, he said "Yeah, I got nothing."

Chris leaned back in his chair. "That's strange. What could be important enough for Sonic to disappear from the face of the planet for?"

"I don't know, Chris. I don't know" Tails said. "Hmm, well, Sonic told us about one thing recently, but that would be a bit personal."

"What is it Tails? You know that I was close with Sonic" Chris said.

"Well, Chris" Tails took a deep breath. "Did Sonic ever tell you about his siblings?"

* * *

 **Unknown Location…**

* * *

"RAAAAAGGGHHHH!"

A piercing cry filled the air as the spiky blue hedgehog uprooted a tree with a single strike and knocked it away.

"Sonic!" Sally shouted in shock.

Sonic twisted and kicked another tree to smithereens. "After all this time..." Sonic nearly shouted angrily, pushing his hands out and unleashing a torrent of wind that cut down an entire grove. He raised his hand up and slammed it into the ground so hard that it split and caved.

"Sonic, calm down" Sally said forcibly. She walked up and put her hand on his shoulder. Sonic's aura flared up, and the force of the wind knocked her backwards, landing hard on her side.

"Sally!" Sonic shouted, rushing over to help her up. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean for that to-"

"I understand, Sonic. But seriously, what is going on with you" Sally asked.

Sonic sighed. "Sally, you remember why I left, and why you decided to tag along, right?"

"Yeah, of course" she answered.

"I just thought…" Sonic said, his aura beginning to flare up again, "That after all this time, we would've come up with _something!_ " He nearly shouted the last word, turning around and unleashing another torrent of wind, smashing a boulder into pebbles. "But after two months, every single lead, every straw we could grasp at, every rumor in every town, has come to nothing!"

"Sonic" Sally said, putting her hand and Sonic's shoulder again now that he had calmed. "I know that it must be really stressful, not being able to find a trace of them, but I know that they'll turn up eventually."

"I'm sure that we'll find them sometime, but _when?!_ Two months of searching, and we've covered over half of Mobius, and absolutely no sign of them" Sonic said. "I'm getting extremely worried that something terrible may have happened to them."

"Listen. If they are half as resourceful as you say they are, then they shouldn't even be able to be caught in any sort of trouble" Sally encouraged.

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Sally, but you don't get it. You've seen how long Eggman can hold a grudge, and since we dethroned him, he's only gotten more powerful" Sonic said. "He's taken control of a creature that was able to erase history, time, and space, and I was only able to beat him that time because his creature brought a younger version of me to where I was, and we both used Super Forms."

"Well, that is certainly something big, but still Sonic, you're giving up hope too easily" Sally said. "I mean, after hunting you for so long, don't you think that Robotnik would want to use the fact that he had done something to them to try and bait a mistake?"

Sonic looked up. "You know, that's a really good point, Sally."

"Well, that's part of the reason we always worked so well together" Sally laughed. "You had the speed, but I always had the tactical brain."

Sonic breathed slightly easier. "Well, I think that it's about time that we get back too it. Besides…" he said, looking around, "I think that I released enough anger for now."

Sally bent down and picked up a long, orange and brown board. "Yeah, time to move on?"

"Yeah, I'm not giving up yet" Sonic said, picking up a slick, blue board with twin engines. "Have you gotten a hang on your Air Board yet, or are you still slipping and flailing around like a hula dancer?"

"Ha ha" Sally said sarcastically, punching Sonic on the shoulder. "Smooth out your own riding, then talk to me about that again."

"Hey, I just call it as I see it" Sonic laughed. He jumped up and swung his Blue Star II underneath himself. "Let's roll out."

* * *

 **West City…**

* * *

A light breeze ran through the area, shifting the grass. Shadow and Silver didn't even twitch as they sat on the ground, focusing, meditating.

All was perfectly quiet as the two sat still on the ground. Not even a muscle moved. Suddenly, Shadow's eyes shot open and 3 Chaos Spears materialized and shot at Silver. However, before they struck, each one glowed green and began orbiting Silver.

"Nice try, Shadow" Silver smirked. "Looks like my reflexes are still better than yours."

Shadow sighed. "Looks like I still have a few things to learn. How did you get your senses so finely tuned?"

"Well, living in a world where the ground is _literally_ lava, having to constantly be on guard from Iblis and his minions, and having to snap wide awake on little to no sleep, all kind of has something to do with it" Silver said.

"Talk about an unfair advantage" Shadow said, standing up. "Well, I may not be able to beat you at this game, but we should still be better than pretty much anyone who dares gets in our way."

"Yeah" Silver said, looking down at his hands. He let out a deep breath. "Shadow, do you reckon that we'll ever be able to go back to our own world?"

Shadow shrugged. "Who knows? This is something on the biggest scale I've ever seen in Chaos Control. I doubt even the Master Emerald has enough power to separate our worlds now."

"Dangit" Silver said.

Shadow looked curiously at Silver. "Why do you want to return to that hellish future anyways? It doesn't sound like a pleasant place to live, even with Iblis gone, and aren't you all but the only being left in that world?"

"It's, complicated" Silver said. "Defeating Iblis, came at a cost. Iblis was basically immortal, like Solaris was. He could be defeated, but he would always revive himself. In the end, we had to fight and defeat him once more, then we had to seal him and transport him to another realm."

"We?" Shadow asked.

Silver looked down. "My only partner in that future was my best friend, Blaze. Blaze was the only one of us whose soul could contain Iblis. She took him in, then I had to, transport her away" Silver's voice broke.

Silver sat on the ground for a moment before continuing. "Me and the few survivors tried to make a life in that world after she sacrificed herself, but I never forgot Blaze. And when this," Silver gestured all around them, "happened, I thought that maybe, if i could get you or Sonic, or learn how to control Chaos myself, then I might be able to find Blaze, and take her back with me, leaving Iblis there."

"Ah, so that is why you are so intent on learning everything you can" Shadow realized.

"Yeah. Once I can use and sense Chaos, I might be able to find wherever they are in my world, then use them to rescue Blaze" Silver said. "Which is why I can't give up hope on being able to go home. My future isn't accessible here, because it's no longer the same world as it was before. So, I need to find a way to fix it."

Shadow smirked. "So, why didn't you just come out and ask?"

"Huh?" Silver asked.

"I'm saying, if you really wanted to learn about Chaos so badly, why didn't you just come out and ask?" Shadow asked. "Even I'm not powerful enough to separate our worlds, even if I had all the Super Emeralds and the Master Emerald at once, but I can teach you how to use it. And, if we do manage to get back to the way things were, you'll be ready to save her." Shadow paused. "Maybe, if you save her, you'll be able to cross the timestreams again, bring back everyone, so not only can you save your friend, but you don't have to live in a world of fire and brimstone anymore."

"Really? You'd teach me how to use Chaos?" Silver asked.

"Well, more like fine tune your knowledge. Just since we came here, you've already learned enough to go Super without help, so I'll just teach you all the neat tricks" Shadow said.

"Shadow, I don't know how to thank you" Silver said.

"Well, for starters, don't go getting mushy on me" Shadow said. He materialized a Super Emerald. "I can teach you, but it will be slow. Chaos isn't something you want to speed. The first time Sonic tried to use Chaos Control, using a fake Emerald, he almost killed himself."

* * *

 **Unknown Area In Mobius…**

* * *

"Come on, Sally! I thought you were getting on my case on knowing how to ride one of these things" Sonic called back.

Sally glared at him. "Oh, I'm sorry, but in case you didn't know, mine wasn't custom designed for speed, well double engines and all the bells and whistles."

"No excuses for the snail's pace" Sonic laughed.

"Oh, now you'd better hope that I don't catch up" Sally yelled.

The two of them were darting through some thick woods on their Extreme Gear, searching for the next town that they could find. They were going into some deeper areas of Mobius that they had never been to before, no matter whether it was recent, or during their Freedom Fighting days.

"Yeah, yeah, tell it to the judge" Sonic chuckled. Turning around to face Sally. "You knkow that you won't hurt me."

"Try me" Sally growled.

"Heh heh" Sonic laughed.

Sally gasped. "Sonic, look out!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like I'm going to fall for-" he began to say before his board rode right over the edge of a cliff. "WHOA!"

"SONIC!" Sally yelled, pulling up to the cliff and looking over the edge. It was a several hundred foot drop at least.

Once the surprise wore off, Sonic began to think clearly. "It's ok, this is nothing" he thought. As he increased falling speed, he focused on his inner energy, utilizing the Chaos energy within him. Nearing the bottom of the cliff face, his fur burst into golden colors. Gripping his board, he spun hard, reducing his falling speed, but still cracking the ground on impact, sending a shock up his legs, nearly turning them to jelly.

"Okay, that was a little too close" Super Sonic said, looking back up the cliff, barely able to make out Sally at the top of it. With a snap of his fingers, she materialized down at the bottom of the cliff with him.

"Wha, where?" Sally asked, looking around, then she saw Sonic. She put on a glare. "Do you even realize how stupid that was? Haven't you ever heard of keep your eyes on the road?"

"A) that's for driving cards, not riding boards. And B), did you see a road, because I didn't" Super Sonic said.

"Oh, sonic Hedgehog, one of these days, you aren't going to know what hit you" Sally swore.

"Yeah, I'm sure you wi-" Super Sonic began to say, before a new sound cut him off.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in" a familiar voice rang out from above.

Super Sonic frowned. "Well, look who decided to show his face" he growled, turning skyward to see a small floating mech. It hovered down and revealed the image of Dr. Eggman within.

"What's the matter, Egghead? Too busy skulking from the beating we gave your bots last time to come here in person?" Super Sonic taunted.

"Robotnik?" Sally gasped.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Acorn. How long has it been" Eggman sneered.

"Not long enough" Sally shot back. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to deliver a message to our pincushioned little friend here" Eggman said.

"What makes you think that I want your stinking message?" Super Sonic asked.

"Oh, I think that you will" Eggman said. "I assume that you know about the very powerful ally that I have made recently?"

"Yeah, that power hungry Nazo" Super Sonic growled.

"Well, it would appear that Nazo is ready for his revenge on you" Eggman said. "And you will not be able to stop it."

"What makes you so sure that whatever plan he's got can trump us?" Super Sonic asked.

"How about a little taste of what is to come?" Eggman said, pressing a button behind the monitor.

The surrounding area all around Sonic lit up like a supernova. Sonic and Sally covered their eyes, and once they were uncovered, they found themselves surrounded by an army of blue metal robots.

"Mass produced Metal Sonics" it dawned on Super Sonic.

"But a fraction of the massive stores of powerful robots I have at my disposal" Eggman laughed evilly. "And that is but the beginning. The one you fought back when we first came to the world, Frieza. I don't know if you know that he used to be the ruler of all of space?"

"Your point?" Super Sonic asked, tensed up in case of a sudden rush by the dozens of Metal Sonics surrounding them.

"Well, robots are only the beginning. An army of Frieza's old forces are making their way to the planet as we speak" Eggman said. "Once we have defeated you, our forces will move to place the planet under our control, and soon, with my alliance with Frieza, and with you out of the way, the entire universe will be under our control."

"I'll stop you, Eggman. I always do" Super Sonic swore.

"Ah, but it's not just me anymore" Eggman said.

"HAH!" Super Sonic yelled, shooting a blast of energy at Eggman's monitor, blasting it to pieces. He looked at Sally. "Sorry, he was getting on my nerves."

"No problem, but what are we going to do now?" Sally asked as the army of Sonic bots surrounded them.

"Geez, Sally, you still doubt me?" Sonic asked. "Mecha Sonic, he was powerful. The first Metal Sonic, who became the Neo-Metal Sonic, he was powerful. But these guys are mass produced on an assembly line. They'll fall like paper cards, comparatively."

Suddenly, each bot's head stared directly at Sonic and Sally, and their eyes glowed red.

"I think they just got their orders" Sally said.

Sonic crouched slightly. "Hop on my back, Sally."

"Got it" she said, jumping onto him.

Sonic looked at the surrounding robots. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He yelled.

Each bot dashed at Sonic. Just before they struck, Sonic launched himself skyward, following by aiming a blast downwards, blasting multiple of them apart. The remaining Sonics flew up after them.

"Sally?" Super Sonic asked.

"Yeah?"

"Hold on tight."

Sonic struck out towards one Metal Sonic, sending it crashing into several of its fellows. Sonic slashed his hand through the air, sending a blade of wind flying outwards and slicing through many of them at once.

As one came from behind, Sonic backflipped over it, striking straight through the body of the Metal. As two more came at Sonic, he grabbed the body of the destroyed robot and spun, crashing it into both of them and shattering them like sugar cubes.

The final two dashed at Sonic once more, not learning from the mistakes of the previous victims. Sonic spun and lashed out, sending a blade of air spinning outwards, cutting through each of them.

Sonic landed on the ground and looked at his Extreme Gear. It had ended up being totaled by Sonic's initial blast. "I can get Tails to fix it later" Super Sonic said. "But for now, we need to warn everyone."

"How are we going to get back in time though?" Sally asked.

"Well, I hope that you don't get sick easily, because the only way I see us getting back in time is Light Dash" Super Sonic said. "I don't know exactly where the city is from here, so I can't use Chaos Control us to get us there."

Sally nodded. "I can handle it."

"I sure hope so" Super Sonic said. "If we don't get back in time, then who knows what might happen. This army sounds massive, and if they invade the whole planet, who knows how many people will get hurt."

"Enough speculation, Sonic" Sally said. "If we are going to need all the time we can get, then we need to go, NOW!"

"Right, hop on!" Super Sonic said.

* * *

 **Sky…**

* * *

A fleet of airships soared through the sky. A massive, red, armored ship led the fleet.

Standing on the prow of the Egg Carrier, a small, semi-reptilian being stood, looking down at the ground below, and looking up at the sky.

As the ships flew forward, more objects entered the sky. Several large, circular space pods descended from the cloud layer. At this, the being broke out into a smile.

"They have arrived" Frieza said. "Now, it is time. Time for my revenge to begin!"

* * *

 **Did I just set Resurrection 'F' in motion? I believe I did. A lot of this story was filler, but I needed to build things up. Anyways, drop a review in, I hope you enjoyed, and prepare, for next time. Frieza's comeback, is about to begin...**


	23. The Invasion Begins

**Station Square…**

* * *

"RIIIIINNNGGG, RIIIIIINNNGGG!"

"Oh, someone's calling me" Chris noticed, picking up his phone. "It's G.U.N.!" He exclaimed.

"G.U.N., those military guys?" Tails asked.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, after I constructed the portal that was able to get myself to your guy's' world, they thought I was super brilliant or something, and decided to get me to help if there was something they had no idea about."

"Well that sounds like quite the honor" Tails said.

"Yeah, a bit tiresome, but none of my friends in school can say that they are an asset for G.U.N." Chris chuckled, opening the phone. "This is Chris Thorndyke, what is it?"

Tails heard some hurried tones over the phone, nothing audible from his position. However, whatever Chris could hear was obviously not good, because his face went from one of ease to one of confusion and apprehension.

"Let me look" Chris said, opening a nearby laptop and pulling up a few scans that had just been delivered. "Hmm…" he said, pulling the phone away from his ear as he overlooked the scans.

"What is it?" Tails asked,

"Well, to be honest, I have no idea myself" Chris chuckled nervously. "There appears to be a large amount of objects moving through space towards the planet, but I have no idea what they are. We have radar, but no definitive images of what they are. Something is jamming their signals."

"Want me to have a look?" Tails asked. "I've had quite a bit of experience with deductions of little data."

"Well, technically, I'm not supposed to show this to anyone, since it's classified…" Chris began, "but I'm pretty sure that there is no one else that I can trust more than you. Take a look" he said, turning the laptop towards Tails."

Tails bent over and studied the images closely. "Well, from the symmetrical shape and formation of each of these objects, I would guess that these aren't random space debris."

"Are you saying that those are spaceships?" Chris asked.

"I would guess. You can also see the faintest amount of disruption around each one, which is usually a sign of high power tech at work" Tails said. Then a brief flash of something appeared on the bottom of the radar. "What was that?" Tails wondered, turning the scan of the radar towards the planet. "Oh no…"

"What is it-" Chris began to say, looking at the screen. "What, some of them are already on the surface?"

"Those aren't normal spaceships" Tails said, standing up. "I've seen those exact readings only once before."

"Where?" Chris asked.

"Sorry, but I can't stay. I have to go warn the others" Tails said sternly, winding up his tails. "I'll be back soon" he said, taking off.

As he soared into the air, his skin burst into an orange glow, giving him the boost he needed. He had one more thought as he ascended into the sky, a final pair of wards he didn't get to say to Chris. "I hope…"

* * *

 **Sky…**

* * *

"Sally, get a grip, or everyone we know may be destroyed by the time we get there!" Super Sonic exclaimed after having to catch Sally for the umpteenth time.

"I know, but do you know just how hard it is to hold onto someone moving this fast?" Sally asked just as intensely.

"Suck it up" Super Sonic growled. "I thought you understood what was at stake here."

"Just because we're at risk, doesn't improve my physical abilities, Sonic" Sally said. "Quit wasting time and fly already."

Sally redoubled her grip on Sonic as his aura flared up. Recoiling slightly, Sonic blasted off with a Super Sonic Boost, hitting top speed in a split second. As he flew, he turned his head back to Sally. "So, what are you planning to do once we get back?"

"I'm joining the fight, what else?" Sally replied.

"Oh, no Sally, sorry, but you can't" Super Sonic said.

"Excuse you?" Sally asked in shock.

"Sally, I know that you've got some skills, and you're stronger than you were while we ran around as kids," Super Sonic began, "But you don't know what you're getting into. Frieza himself has enough power to blow up a planet from what Goku told me about him. Now, his entire army is on his way here, and not only that, but Egghead himself is pooling a bunch of his bots into the forces. And these aren't just SWATbots, Sal. These are powerful mechs that have caused me trouble even in recent times. Now then, please tell me that you'll stay out of this."

Sally was silent for a moment. "Sally!" He said me intensely.

"Yes, I'll round everyone up and stay in Knothole" Sally said. "I'll put the shield up and everything. But if anything comes our way, I'll be on the front line to defend Knothole."

"Fair enough" Super Sonic said. "But there won't be anyone coming anywhere near Knothole if I have anything to say about it!"

"I hear you" Sally said. "Speaking of…"

Sonic halted in the air and dropped into a deeply wooded area. "Now, get home and prepare everyone" he ordered. "They _all_ need to be ready in case a few stragglers slip in, because these guys are more powerful than anything Robotnik ever threw at us when we were young."

Sally nodded. "I hear you. Don't worry Sonic, just focus on sending them packing and staying alive" she said.

Sonic nodded. "They won't know what hit them" he assured.

Sally stepped forward and pulled Sonic into her embrace. "I mean it, don't pull anything dangerous out there. I just got you back, and I don't want to go around knowing that you're never coming back."

Sonic returned her hug. "Don't worry. I've got an ace up my sleeve just in case."

Sally turned to race to Knothole. "Well, good luck Sonic."

"You too Sal" Super Sonic replied.

Sonic sprang into the air, creating a vacuum from his speed, as he shot back towards West City. "I just need to get there in time" he said to himself.

* * *

 **Capsule Corp…**

* * *

"Remember, the key to utilizing Chaos, at least when you haven't mastered it yet, it rage" Shadow explained. "To draw on Chaos, it's easiest to remember a severely infuriating moment, one that filled you with anger. Call upon that feeling, then, simultaneously, draw on the Emerald's power. It shouldn't be too hard for you, because you already know how to use Chaos Control, to an extent at least."

"Right" Silver said. "I think that I know what will get me going." Silver closed his eyes and revisited the past. Iblis, and his pointless, mass destruction and carnage. Mephilis' betrayal, the only way they were able to defeat them…

The Super Emeralds began to glow intensely, a stream of energy pouring forth from each one, the Chaos energy entering Silver. With a blast outwards, Silver ascended to his Super Form.

"Well, you obviously knew more about this than you let on" Shadow said.

"Heh heh, well, once you taught me the trick, I already knew a bit about controlling it. I just needed to know how to harness it on my own" Super Silver said.

"Obviously so" Shadow said. "But tell me, why didn't you ascend to Hyper?"

"I just wanted to test this out for myself" Super Silver explained. "Even just going Super, I sent out quite a bit of energy. You know, uprooted a few flowers, knocked over a few objects…"

"RAAAAAAAAA!" a scream sounded above them. The two hedgehogs looked up and witnessed a falling ship come crashing down towards them.

"Yeah, and maybe that too" Super Silver said, slightly meekly.

The pod spiraled out of control down towards the Capsule Corp. building. Silver sighed. "I got it."

Silver sprang into the air and thrust his arm forward, the Psychokinetic vein in his hand glowing. The space pod began to glow with a green light, and it's crash course slowed. When it stopped dead in its tracks, Silver levitated it and himself down towards the lawn.

However, when Silver and the pod were ten feet above the ground, Shadow sensed something. Some sort of ripple passed through the air, passing everything by. As it passed through Silver, his golden glow faded, and the pod lost its Psychokinetic support.

"AH!" Silver exclaimed, falling to the ground on his back, knocking the air out of his lungs. As he bounced off the surface, denting the turf, he stuck his hand out and popped the pod back up, lessening its impact on the ground. Silver sat up, rubbing his head in pain. "Owww, what was that? I know that I didn't power down on my own."

Shadow looked skyward, feeling the change that had just taken place. "I don't know, yet, but I have an inkling…"

The two were drawn to the sound of the pod opening up. As the lid came up, a wiry man dressed in purple tights and white armor climbed out. "Alright, he was the moron that shot down my space pod?" the new figure asked grumpily.

"Sorry, I think that that might have been me" Silver said sheepishly.

"Hmph, you're lucky that I have some major news to deliver to Bulma, otherwise I might deal with you right now" the mysterious man said.

"While I doubt that you could stand up to either of us," Shadow said, "We are friends with Bulma and her family. What sort of news are you going to deliver."

"Well, I've known Bulma to have some weird friends, but you two are surely the most odd" the man said.

Shadow clenched his fist at the man. "Odd, did you say?"

"Enough of that" he said nervously. "My name is Jaco, and I'm a member of the Galactic Patrol. Earth is one of my top priorities on my watchlist, and I've got some bad news."

"Well, I'm Shadow, and he's Silver. What is this bad news?" Shadow asked.

Jaco pulled out a small monitor. "I got news recently that countless space pods are on their way to Earth, each one containing a large number of lifeforms aboard. Not only that, but these ships are the same model as those that were used by the empire of the old Space Tyrant, Frieza. We at HQ are worried that they are coming to conquer this world."

Shadow snorted. "Is that all? An army of minions on their way here? A few well placed Chaos Blasts ought to eradicate the lot of them."

"Well, you sure seem self confident" Jaco commented. "Well, still, I better get in touch with Bulma about this-"

"SHADOW!" A voice called out.

Sonic came sprinting across the yard at full speed, using boost. He put the brakes on and stopped in front of the group. He was panting heavily, but his eyes conveyed a sense of urgency that Shadow had never seen before. Gasping for air, he managed to say "Frieza, Eggman, Nazo, invasion."

Shadow's face became stony. "Nazo, Frieza?" He asked. Sonic nodded.

Sonic recovered for another moment, then was able to talk easier. "Eggman gave me a message. Frieza, has an army, and Eggman's robots, they're going to invade the planet, and conquer it. Frieza and Nazo, they plan to get their revenge on us while they're at it." He caught his breath for another moment, then continued. "Also, something weird is going on. I was flying in my Super State, and something went through the air, and as it passed me, my Super State vanished. I couldn't harness it again, no matter how hard I tried."

Silver ran up to him. "The same thing happened to me!" He exclaimed. "That same wave that went through the air knocked me down when I was in my Super State as well!"

Shadow closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Strange, what could it possibly be?"

Sonic shook his head. "But that's not the point. We need to get ready for this invasion, otherwise, we might all go down. We need to get everyone prepared."

Jaco began to walk away. "Well, I'm going to deliver this message to Bulma herself. You can go gather up your friends to try to fight off this invasion" he said walking into the distance.

Sonic looked at him as he walked away. "Well, he certainly doesn't have high expectations…"

Shadow looked skyward. "You know, I'm starting to wish that those two hadn't gone off on their training mission. If this is as bad as you say it's going to be, then I'm not sure we have the capabilities to stop them."

Sonic looked at Shadow with a serious face. "Shadow, I mentioned to Sally, that I have a trump card, just in case."

"Yeah?" Shadow asked, interest slightly peaked. "What is it?"

Looking Shadow dead in the eyes, Sonic said "You know."

Shadow frowned. "Sonic, we don't even know if that will work. And if it does, do you even realize how dangerous that could be?"

"I know, which is why it will be our last resort" Sonic said.

"Um, are you guys going to keep me out of the loop?" Silver asked. "What is this trump card?"

Shadow sighed. "Before Sonic left to go off to wherever, me and him were discussing a possibility, a way to push ourselves to a tier far above our Hyper forms. We consulted Knuckles about it, and he confirmed that while it was dangerous, that it was possible."

"What was possible?" Silver asked.

"Let's keep that under wraps until we actually need it" Sonic said. He looked up into the sky. "Besides, with whatever's going on neutralizing our Chaos Emeralds may very well make it so that we aren't able to utilize it. Speaking of, Shadow. Are your Chaos powers still working."

"To an extent" Shadow said. "I tried a little out, and my powers are weakened, but still functioning. It seems that only our Emeralds were fully cancelled out. We're not going to be able to use Super Transformations."

"Darn, those are our biggest advantages" Sonic said. "I suppose that I could see if Tails has any Shield Monitors stored somewhere to help us, but beyond that, at least we have the power Old Kai gave us."

"Let's just hope that's enough" Silver said. "From some of the stories that Goku's family told, it seems like Frieza's army only had strength in numbers. They were rather weak on their own, but that's just because they were powerful. This army is going to overwhelm everyone else unless we keep them away."

"Ok, here goes" Sonic said. "You guys, go gather up all of Goku's friends and family. The one's that want to fight, well, we could use all the help we can get. I'm going to go grab Knuckles and Tails, and if I have time, maybe some of our old friends could help us with the robot threat. If I can find Chaotix in time, maybe…"

"Enough talk, Sonic, we got it. Go do what you need to do before we're up to our spikes in foes" Shadow said.

"Right!" Sonic said. Sonic Spin Charged on the ground, collecting energy for his fastest form of travel. He looked back at his two partners. "Ready?" He asked.

"Yes" Shadow affirmed.

"You've got it" Silver said.

Sonic nodded. "Then, GO!" He said, taking off at light speed.

* * *

 **Sky…**

* * *

"Oh hoh hoh, look at them, scurrying around like ants" Frieza laughed maliciously.

The Evil Tyrant himself flew over North City, accompanied by a massive fleet of airships. He himself stood on the prow of the flagship of the fleet, a large, powerful red ship. Down below, the city was in total panic as they saw the airships fly over their city. Accidents and chaos reigned in the streets below as people panicked.

"It is so wonderful to see the fear that I inspire, even to this day" Frieza said. "Earthlings are such fun to watch."

"What do you that we say hello?" Nazo asked, appearing next to him.

"What a lovely idea" Frieza chuckled. "That ought to get the attention of those stupid monkeys and chipmunks."

Frieza levitated out in front of the ship and held his hand out over this city. "Ah, what a lovely view. It would almost be a shame to do this, but not quite."

Frieza unleashed a blast of power straight down towards the ground. A red flash lit up the sky, as a pillar of energy shot downwards on a crash course with the city. It struck down, shattering each building it struck like sugar cubes. A dome billowed outwards of the point where it connected to the ground, until it imploded, fading away, and leaving nothing but a smoking crater behind, North City having been blasted off of the map.

"Excellent, excellent" Nazo commented.

"Hoh hoh hoh, you should have seen the fireworks that went off when I destroyed Planet Vegeta. Now _that_ was a show" Frieza laughed.

"Hmm, I wonder if the destruction of the Earth would have been as spectacular, had those pesky hedgehogs not gotten in the way" Nazo said. "I suppose that I will never get the opportunity to see, as the Doctor wishes to keep the Earth and Mobius for himself, once the hedgehogs are out of the way."

"Oh, I think that we can come to an arrangement" Frieza said. "You know, I always pay my dues. What if I made you the supreme commander of my intergalactic army after we are done here? I always made it a point to blow up any planet that dared to rebel. You would not only be able to witness the glorious fireworks of the planet, but you may be able to be the one who sets it in motion."

"Ah, that does sound like a deal" Nazo said. "Not only would I be able to make sure that no one would ever be able to top me, but I could prove my superiority across the universe." Nazo laughed evilly. "Every time we talk, I see more of myself in you." He looked down on the smoking crater. "And you have obviously gained some of my power as well. Leveling a city with ease is one of the first things I did upon coming onto the plane of reality."

"Well, before we get to that, I need to utterly destroy them" Frieza swore. "This ought to draw them to us, but I say we go to meet them halfway."

"Yes, it would appear as if they are attempting to gather enough force to fight back" Nazo laughed. "What futility."

"Quite so" Frieza agreed. "So, let us take the fight to them."

"I will tell the Doctor" Nazo said, vanishing.

Frieza turned back to face off into the distance. The ships slowly began to turn and change course, and only one though was on his mind.

"I will torture those pathetic creature beyond the point of sanity, and only then will I _utterly destroy them!"_

* * *

 **Beerus' Planet**

* * *

"Take us SERIOUSLY" Vegeta bellowed.

"Oh, what a beautiful day" Whis said absentmindedly, spinning away from Vegeta and Goku, avoiding them with ease.

"Stop this daydreaming" Vegeta spat again, launching himself at Whis.

"Hmm?" Whis asked, unconcerned. With a slight moment, he avoided Vegeta's attack, sending Vegeta rushing past.

Goku came flying in from the side and flipped over, striking downwards at Whis with his foot. Once again, with infuriating ease, Whis danced away from his assault.

Vegeta and Goku flew at Whis together, fists clenched and wound up. As they struck towards Whis, he merely stuck his hand out, catching their attacks with his pinky and thumb, stopping them dead in their tracks.

"Now, this can't be all you have to offer, hmm?" Whis asked.

"I'll show you just what I have to offer" Vegeta bellowed, soaring into the air and thrusting his hand forward, a large ball of blueish energy growing in it. "BIG BANG ATTACK!"

The concussive blast shot towards Whis like an asteroid towards a planet. Whis stuck his index finger forward, curled slightly downwards. As the Big Bang Attack neared, his finger twitched ever so slightly. The attack reversed course towards Vegeta, flying back with double intensity as before.

"What the-!" Vegeta exclaimed, as that was all he was able to get out before he was struck with his own attack and blasted skywards.

Goku hovered in the air, observing Vegeta being taken down. Whis turned to face him and nodded towards him. Goku dashed towards Whis and began a flurry of strikes at him, which were all dodged with grace.

"YAH!" Goku shouted, twisting and kicking towards him again. However, Whis leaned backwards, Goku's leg soaring over his face. After he propped back up, he pushed his hand forward and unleashed a light pulse of energy, blowing Goku backwards through the sky.

As he spun through the air, Goku put his fingers to his forehead and vanished from the field. He reappeared behind Whis with a blast attack ready in his hands. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Whis backflipped up into the air as the attack soared beneath him. He landed behind Goku with a hand raised. With a swift motion, he brought his hand down on Goku's neck, it stopping as it touched him. Goku froze as he felt it. Whis retracted his hand. "Well that was an improvement. I daresay that you almost had me with that one. You may have singed my robes."

Goku spun around to face Whis. "Yeah, but that's not good enough. I still can't land any attack that you don't let me land."

"That I let you land" Whis asked.

"Instead of moving, you block" Goku said. "Which is almost as bad, considering how easily you do it…"

Vegeta came dashing back in, his armor burned and his body smoking. "How dare you use my own attack against me" he snarled.

"Now, now, Vegeta, don't get too worked up" Whis said. "I say that we are done for today anyways. You two have thoroughly exhausted yourselves with those two attempts at blast attacks."

"What do you mean, _attempts_?" Vegeta asked angrily.

"I call them so because they failed to connect, nothing else" Whis soothed.

"Suuure" Vegeta said sarcastically.

Whis sighed. "You know, Vegeta, you could be a much more skilled fighter if you wound down sometimes and relaxed. Going through life with such stress and anger always being carried around does a lot to limit your abilities, as it wears your body down, tightens its limits."

When Vegeta fell silent, Whis pressed on. "Now, I do recognize your skill. You are quite a prodigal fighter. However, it is for this reason that you always seem to fall a step or two behind Goku."

"Oh, you just _had_ to bring that up!" Vegeta growled.

Whis nodded. "It is important that you recognize these things. If you wish to someday be able to match yourself up to even Lord Beerus, you must find a way to dissolve your old restraints and push yourself beyond your current limits. Thus, I recommend that you learn how to take a break and loosen up. Rest yourself to refresh your body, and allow it to go further when you return to train."

"See Vegeta, it's like I said when we were going up against Cell" Goku said. "That extra year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber punishing your body didn't do as much as you thought it would. The week of rest that me and Gohan did allowed us to get stronger than it sounds like it would." Goku chuckled and put his hands behind his head.

Whis narrowed his eyes. "Yet rest is not always the answer. Being too relaxed can make you soft and…" Whis vanished and reappeared beside Goku, jabbing his hand into his side. "Susceptible."

"Agh" Goku grunted. "What the, what's with the sucker punch?!"

"Goku, while it is true that your more frequent rest and having a warmer outlook does afford you opportunities than it does Vegeta's lifestyle of tension and discipline, you spend too much time on this" Whis explained. "An overly luxurious way of life leaves one rather vulnerable to one that can overpower them. It doesn't help that your strength make you fairly overconfident. I have witnessed moments in your most critical battles, where you are so sure of your victory that your guard drops, often leading to your downfall, or nearly to. When added to your merciful trait, it makes quite, well, a sucker."

"Therefore, I say that you should focus on sharpening your mind. You should attempt to become more observant, and less confident. Until the battle is absolutely over, then you should never drop your guard and turn your back on your opponent."

"I guess I see what you're getting at, but are you telling me to actually aim to kill my foes from the beginning?" Goku asked in shock.

"Not necessarily, but make sure that they are down for the count before you power down from a fight" Whis said. "For example, when you fought Frieza on the planet Namek. As he seemed to weaken considerably, you turned your back on him. However, this almost proved to be your undoing, as he proceeded to unleash an attack that nearly killed you. Then, after you revived him, he tried one last time to take you out, with a technique that most certainly would have killed you had you not reacted in time. All the same, you gave him the energy, then left him in a prime position to attack you once more."

"Oh, I think I see what you mean now" Goku said. "Got it, I'll do my best to train with that."

"Excellent" Whis said. He looked over their shoulders. "Oh, it would appear that we have some company."

"Huh?" The two of them asked as they turned around. Walking down the path towards them was a purple, anthropomorphic cat. Goku's face betrayed fear. "Oh, h-hey Lord Beerus. Um, how was the nap."

Beerus stumbled down the path, not entirely coherent to what Goku was saying. "Aaaaahh" Beerus gave a toothy yawn. "What was with that shaking? I was taking a nap h, he, heeeaAACHO!" He sneezed, a blast of purple energy soaring towards them.

Both Goku and Vegeta hit the deck as it flew towards them, and Whis merely stepped aside. The blast of destructive energy flew outwards towards the edge of his domain, striking and demolishing one of the outlying planets.

"Wow, not sure how badly I want to offer him a tissue" Goku said nervously.

"Beerus can get quite grumpy when he is sleep deprived" Whis warned. "Please, try to stay on his good side. I was enjoying having students, it gave me something to do in between Lord Beerus' naps, and I would hate to lose them so soon."

Whis held his hand out and his staff floating into his hands. Beerus chose then to snap into consciousness. "Hey Whis, mind explaining what these two are doing here, wearing _your_ symbols?"

"Symbols?" Goku asked. He looked down at his gi and found it maked with a sort of zig zaggy circle. Vegeta's Saiyan-style armor was marked with the same symbol.

"Ah yes, I found the time to mark your outfits. I thought that some, how do you say, team colors would be useful" Whis said.

"Whis, are you going to answer or what?" Beerus said impatiently.

Whis huffed. "Yes, my lord" he said, setting his staff aside and turning to face Beerus. As Whis turned away, the orb atop his staff began to pulse out light, unbeknownst to him.

* * *

 **Capsule Corp…**

* * *

"Oh, it's no use" Bulma complained, walking up to the small army that had assembled. "I tried to get in touch with Whis five times, yet he won't respond." She set down small ice cooler. "I'll keep this on me in case they respond, but for now, we're without Goku and Vegeta."

"Well, that's a downer" Gohan said. "They are our strongest fighters. Beating Frieza and Nazo are going to be a bit tougher now."

"Great" Shadow grunted.

"Ok, ok" Sonic said. "We can do this ourselves."

"I sure hope so" Tien said. "We should be able to hold our own, but with your guys' Chaos powers negated, will you?"

"Ok, are you really underestimating us?" Knuckles asked. "Have you forgotten how powerful we've become by training with you guys?"

"Ok guys, let's not get to fighting" Tails said. "If we start fighting within, we aren't going to win the fight outside."

" **You aren't going to win the outside fight either way!"** A magnified voice rang out over the group.

Everyone looked up into the sky, and gasped at the sight. An entire armada of airships hovered above and around West City, spreading into the distance.

"It's the Egg Fleet!" Knuckles gasped.

"And do you recognize that flagship?" Sonic asked darkly.

"The Egg Carrier!" Tails groaned.

" **Well, it's nice to know that you remember my work so fondly"** the voice rang out again. A small pod came soaring downwards out of the sky.

"Fond isn't the word that I would use, Scrambled Egg!" Sonic yelled up. Sure enough, as the pod came into view, Eggman himself was flying down in it.

"Now now, now need for name calling" Eggman called down.

"I think that there is when you invade our planet and try to destroy everything that we hold dear" Sonic countered.

"Level with me, Doctor" Shadow spoke. "You did whatever happened that negate our Chaos Emeralds and powers, didn't you?"

"Sharp as ever Shadow" Eggman sneered.

"Joke's on you, Egghead" Shadow said. "That means that you won't be able to use it either. And since you just have machines, you're the one at a disadvantage."

"Oh, how wrong you are" Eggman said. "Allow me to demonstrate." Eggman hit a button in his egg pod. The pod vanished in a flash of dark light and reappeared in front of the group. Another flash and he was back in the sky.

"What, how is Chaos working for you and not us?!" Silver exclaimed

"Oh, it was one of my more ingenious ideas, and that's saying something" Eggman laughed. "I wouldn't mind explaining it anyways, because there is nothing you can do about it."

"Well, spill it" Shadow demanded.

"Well, it was all based on a story I once read when I was young" Eggman began. "A story of fiction, yes, but it provided an idea that I applied. It was a tale of creatures of light against the creatures of dark. The creatures of dark resided in a domain that was filled with the darkness, and any creature of the light who entered this dark area was immediately turned to the dark. It wasn't until the creatures of light acquired an artifact of extreme light power that they had an area that worked in their favor. A creature of the dark that entered the area of light was immediately cleansed. Using this artifact, they took the fight to the domain of darkness, where the root of the darkness lay. When the light collided with the dark, they cancelled each other out, creating a balanced area, where neither force had an advantage."

"Now, that story gave me an idea. Since the Emeralds are split, they have equal power, one light, and one dark. Since they aren't one, the two colliding would cancel each other out. My plan was to use these Dark Emeralds to blanket the planet in Dark Chaos energy. In doing that, I easily cancelled out any attempt to utilize the power of your pathetic Light Emeralds, as they are now useless. All Light Chaos Energy of equal or lesser power to my Dark Chaos Emeralds is completely negated."

This sank into the group. Tails was the first to speak up. "Well, that is pretty impressive, I have to admit."

"Tails, don't egg him on!" Sonic complained.

"It doesn't matter, hedgehog" Eggman said. "Now then, I think that I have dawdled here long enough." As Eggman ascended back towards his Egg Carrier, he called out " **Let the invasion begin!"**

Clusters of the Egg Fleet began to vanish in the same light that had cloaked Eggman when he demonstrated his Dark Chaos control.

Shadow realized what this meant first. "He's spreading his fleet across the globe to take it all at once."

"Yeah, and I bet that those Frieza Forces are probably not too far behind them" Gohan said. "We need to get to work."

"Yeah, but are we even sure that we can move fast enough to take them all on at once?" Yamcha asked.

Sonic turned around. "Listen, you guys are some of the most powerful warriors that I've ever met. And if I was able to smash through these airships with ease when I was just a weakling with speed, then we should be able to plow through them now too." He turned to Shadow. "Shadow, I know that you can sense Chaos trails, meaning you can tell where someone has gone using Chaos Control. I need you to take care of the airships that went the furthest away, the ones that would take much longer to reach."

"Right!" Shadow said.

Tails distributed small earpieces. "Here, I can use my tech to keep track of all the ships that are on the planet. I can use these to keep in touch with you and tall you where we are most needed at."

"Good thinking Tails" Sonic complemented when he accepted his earpiece.

Tails nodded. "Now, it's just a matter of fighting off this invasion from our home."

Knuckles stood up. "We know that their powerful, and that they have a large army on them, while we are pretty few."

Tails nodded. "But they made some big mistakes."

"They underestimated us" Gohan said.

"They thought they could tackle us on our home base" Piccolo added.

"But their biggest mistake?" Sonic said. "They messed with us and our home. And we will _not_ let them get away with that. Will we?"

"NO!" They all cried.

"Are you guys ready to get some serious can?" He asked again.

"YEAH!" Another chorus of shouts rang out.

"Ok" Sonic said, turning to take off. "Let's show them just what fools they were, trying to mess with us! We, will not lose! And that is a promise!"

* * *

 **Ok, who's hyped for next chapter? I'm hyped just to be able to write it :). Anyways, along with the normal enjoy, read and review, I want to see something. The story that Eggman based his Dark Chaos cover off of is a real story. How many people recognize it? Comment or PM me of you know, because I want to see just how many get the reference. Anyways, until next time, have a good time, and I'll see you then.**


	24. Fleet Fight

**Quick note. I know during the original 'Resurrection "F"' that Gohan had become a weakling barely capable of transforming. However, since I like Gohan, he's not going to become as weak as that. I hope that you guys like that little twist! Now, on with the story!**

* * *

 **West City…**

* * *

"ROLL OUT!" Sonic shouted.

With that, everyone took off in every direction. Shadow vanished in a flash of Chaos Control, every Z Fighter flew off at an incredible pace, and Team Sonic hit top speed as they split up in every direction. Only two remained.

"Ok, Eggman, let's see if you've learned how to put a battleship together any better" Sonic said, staring into the air at the portion of the Egg Fleet that had been left to take care of West City. The Egg Carrier itself, however, had left.

"Well, obviously he was afraid to confront me right off the bat" Sonic smirked. "I guess that I'll prove his fear right."

"And I'll help you here too" Gohan said, stepping up behind him.

Sonic looked over at him. "You know, I can take care of these things by myself. You should go try to take care of some of the other fleets."

"Really? You think that I would let you tackle the ones that are after this city alone?" Gohan chuckled. "This place is my second home, and I doubt that he would dispatch an entire airship after my little house in the mountains. Besides, Videl is holed up with the others in the Capsule Corp building, and I'm lot letting them level the city with her here. I'll go, but only after this place is clear."

Sonic smiled. "You know, I got that. Sure, let's cream them together."

Gohan nodded. "And it looks like the welcoming committee is coming right now."

Sure enough, hundreds, if not thousands of robots were falling from the fleet into the city. "Let's show them a good time, what do you think?"

"Right" Sonic said.

Dual waves of power soared outwards. Heavy winds whipped up as Sonic ascended to his full power state, and a ripple of yellow energy appeared as Gohan transformed into a Super Saiyan.

Sonic sprang skyward with the force of a hurricane to meet the oncoming mech force. With a swift spin kick, he unleashed a blade of wind energy that sliced through dozens of Egg Pawns, which split and exploded. Gohan soared up right beside him, striking through several robots of his own with swift blows.

Sonic lost his momentum and began to fall. "Well, we took care of some of them, but not nearly all of them. Not by a long shot."

"Sonic, cover the ground and protect the people! I got the air!" SSJ Gohan called.

"Right!" Sonic said, diving towards the street.

With a spin, Sonic hit the ground running. With an enhanced Boost, he bashed through ranks of Pawns that had just set down on the ground, spraying their parts everywhere.

"Heh, fighting bulky Saiyans and white lizard men was one thing, but I miss this" Sonic thought. "Busting bots, just like the good ol' days."

"ELIMINATE THREATS" a chorus of mechanized voices behind him sounded.

Sonic turned to see a group of bazooka armed Egg Pawns facing him. "ELIMINATE THREATS" they sounded off again, aiming their weapons at Sonic.

Sonic sighed. "Has Eggman forgot to add better brain circuits to his new robots?"

A hailstorm of energy missiles shot towards Sonic at blazing speed. For a human. Sonic leapt into the air, soaring above each projectile. Approaching the apex of his jump, Sonic curled up and spun towards the collection of robots. He darted towards them and began circling. A powerful whirlwind whipped up and carried every single one skyward. Landing lightly on the ground, Sonic twisted and thrust his hand upwards, unleashing a terrific blast of blue energy. The robot parts rained down around him.

Sonic retracted his hand, breathing slightly harder than before. "I probably should've stuck to aerokinesis. I haven't been practicing much with energy blasts, and I need to conserve my energy." Then he shook his head. "No time to stay on that, time to keep up with the robo-removal." Sonic sped off downtown to take care of more of the ground based threat.

Meanwhile, up in the air, Gohan wasn't having much luck. For every robot he destroyed, five more seemed to arrive to take their place. He crushed them rather easily, but yet he was wearing out quicker than normal all the same.

"It's all the Chaos Energy in the air" SSJ Gohan realized as he struck out again, punching straight through a flying mech. As the it fell to the ground, he turned around, and already, another batch of them were already being released from the ships.

Gohan kicked out, striking one and sending it flying into a group, the turned around and backhand sliced through another few that were nearing him. Flipping back, he saw a large cluster of robots nearing the surface. He placed his hands together above his head, then thrust them forward and yelled "MASENKO!"

A beam of yellow energy blasted out and flew towards the fleeing robots, blasting them to smithereens and scattering them to the wind.

Gohan twisted around and faced the battleship fleet, the main threat. "If I can take these down, then that will stop any more robot production."

Placing his hands together by his side, he began chanting. "Kaaaaaaaaaa, Meeeeeeeee, Haaaaaaaaa, Meeeeeeeee…"

A swarm of robots flew in in an attempt to protect the ship, but it was futile. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" SSJ Gohan screamed, launching his extremely powerful Kamehameha wave towards the battleship before him. As it connected, a supernova of an explosion lit up the sky, shrouding everything in a blanket of bright white light.

"HA, no robot or vehicle can top me" SSJ Gohan cheered.

The glow faded away, and much to Gohan's shock, the ship remained unscathed. "What, how?!" he sputtered. He brought his finger up and touched the earpiece. "Sonic, is there some trick to destroying the ships? I just hit it with a full force Kamehameha Wave and it barely scratched it."

"So that's what that was. Good thing, I thought Eggman was using nukes" Sonic's voice crackled back over the speaker. "Something about the designs of Eggman's airships make them unbelievably resilient to energy based weaponry or attacks. You would need an extreme amount of physical power to pierce it from the outside, but me and my team would always just go for an internal assault."

"Internal, like fly inside and take it down from within?" SSJ Gohan asked.

"Yeah, but there's too much to explain over this thing" Sonic said back. "Tag out? I take the airships and you handle things down here?"

"Sure, but how are you going to get up here?" SSJ Gohan asked.

"Simple, look down" Sonic replied.

A glance downward revealed a blue shape jumping nimbly up buildings towards him. Once he had reached to highest building, he come soaring towards Gohan with a terrific leap.

"I could use a boost!" Gohan heard Sonic over both the earpiece and the din of battle.

Gohan nodded and cupped his hands. Sonic flew up towards Gohan and placed one foot in the cradle he had made, then sprang off with Gohan simultaneously giving him a massive throw.

"Ok, time to take care of the ground bound threat" SSJ Gohan said, diving towards the city.

Sonic came careening onto the surface of the nearest battleship, landing hard and taking off, using the Sonic Boost to slam through legions of enemies. Nearing the tail end of the battleship, Sonic spun, smashing straight through the back wall into the engine. With the explosion that followed, Sonic jumped as high as he could, the metal shredding explosion behind him tearing open the roof and propelling him high into the air.

On the surface, Gohan staggered from the force of the explosion. The ship was consumed in a massive fireball and large chunks of it meteored towards the city.

"Oh no, if those debris hit, they'll cause some bad damage" SSJ Gohan. He unleashed a wave of power, knocking back the nearest foes, and prepared to fly up to intercept the falling chunks of metal. However, before he could even take off, all the remains of the ship suddenly changed direction, sailing far over the city and into the distant plains.

"Wow, guess that I should ever underestimate Sonic's aerokinesis" he chuckled. He turned to face the still great hoards of enemies he had to face, and shouted, with defiance, "What are you waiting for? Come get some!"

With a shaking ground Gohan felt something approach him from behind. He turned around and witnessed a large robot made of dense, dark metal. It donned a thick red helmet and carried a humongous hammer.

"So, is this the biggest thing that I have to deal with?" SSJ Gohan asked tauntingly. "Come on, puny, show me what you're made of!"

The robot raised the hammer, then brought it screaming down towards Gohan. With a nimble dash, Gohan safely escaped its range, then flew back towards it, fist raised. He connected a mighty punch to the robot, but it didn't stagger much. What's more, Gohan felt like he had broken his hand.

"Ow, you're hard skinned, aren't you?" SSJ Gohan asked, cradling his hand lightly.

The robot reached its hammer back, then began spiraling around towards Gohan, a heavy metal whirlwind.

Gohan leapt backwards, dodging the hammer with ease. The robot soon came to a stop, and from its posture, Gohan could tell that it was off balance. He dashed towards it, and rather than go for a head on attack this time, he tried a smarter move. He circled behind the bot, then twisted and struck with a powerful kick. He put enough force behind it that he was able to knock the robot flat on the ground.

Gohan stood on top of the robot and reached down, grasping its giant mallet in his hands. With a struggle, he pried it from the robot and lifted it into the air with a low of effort. He leaned it back as far as he dared, then brought it smashing down on the robot's torso, shattering it like a sugar cube.

Dropping the hammer in the scraps and panting slightly. Gohan took a fighting stance and faced the rest of the enemies. His golden aura faded, and his hair reverted to black as he dropped out of his Super Saiyan form. "At this point, it's best I conserve as much energy as possible. These things don't need a Super Saiyan's power to defeat" he said.

As the robots charged him once more, he threw himself back into their ranks, blasting them apart one by one.

* * *

 **Faraway City…**

* * *

Civilians ran around on the surface in panic as an entire armada of battleships materialized above their city. Multiple ports opened up on each ship, and a stream of mechanical forces poured out towards the city below.

People took cover as they neared the ground, but they never reached it. The entire force of robots halted in mid air and glowed with an eerie green light. To a keen eye, a faint trail could be seen leading back so a single, solitary figure, hovering in a bubble of green energy.

"Come on!" Silver shouted. "You didn't think that you would come here and wreak havoc on my watch, now did you?"

Several battleships twisted and aimed a great number of cannons towards them. At once, a hailstorm of fiery projectiles rained down towards Silver.

"What _amateurs!"_ Silver exclaimed. Sending out an even larger pulse of psychokinetic energy, each cannonball was caught in his grasp.

"Now then..." Silver said. He raised both his hands above his head, and every single cannonball and robot into a colossal ball of debris. Every single robot was crushed into scrap metal as they were mashed together.

Holding his hands together as if he were gripping an imaginary chain, Silver began spinning in a circle, his massive flail spinning in an orbit around him. As the velocity of the ball went higher and higher, it went further and further outwards, its radius expanding.

"TAAAAAKKEEE THIS!" Silver cried, the green glow in his psychokinetic veins fading as he released the ball. It went sailing through the air and came crashing down on the aerial armada. It pierced through every single ship like it was made of paper mache, and carried each piece of the ships into the far distance.

Silver nodded in a satisfied fashion. "That's all for here." He looked into the distance. "I only hope that the others are having as much luck as I am. Of course, probably not. My Psychokinesis is a huge advantage in this situation."

He raised his hand and touched his earpiece. "Tails, where's the nearest fleet to me?"

"Let me look here, Silver" Tails replied. "Got it. We've got a pretty good sized cluster of them in a city about a hundred and fifty miles, well, about northeast from you."

"Got it, I'll get over there ASAP" Silver said, preparing to take off, when Tails' voice cracked back to life.

"Wait, something's going on. The ships in that area are dropping like flies, but none of us are over there. What's going on?"

"Wait, should I go, or not?" Silver asked.

"No, still go. Go check out whatever's happening there" Tails answered.

"Right!" Silver said. He powered up and flew off into the distance, chasing the strange anomaly.

* * *

 **Satan City…**

* * *

"Huh, why'd it get dark out all of a sudden" a heavily mustached man asked, looking out the window of a mansion.

Shadows had fallen on Satan City in the middle of the day, and the city's namesake was looking up at it. "What is this, an eclipse, or heavy clouds, or somethiGYEEEE!" Mr. Satan exclaimed, viewing a collection of enormous airships that had taken up the sky.

"Wha, wha, what are all those things doing up there?" he exclaimed. "They weren't there a moment ago!"

One by one, each ship opened up doors, and a swarm of mechanical enemies swarmed out, descending towards the city. Landing on the tops of buildings and in the streets, they began to take over the city.

Hercule Satan's look of fear and perplexion turned to one of rage. "Oh, I see now, they think that they can just come in and take _my_ city. Well, they're going to have another thing coming to them!"

Mr. Satan pulled his window open and leapt from the terrace. He landed on the ground and rushed out into the streets, careening towards the nearest enemy.

A trio of humanoid robots with jetpacks armed to their backs. Their hands consisted of large machine guns and they other arm ended in a blunt point, like a thin club.

"Hey, you bunch of pieces of sheet metal!" Mr. Satan yelled defiantly. "You come to this city, you're going to deal with the champ himself. Now, taste my DYNAMITE KICK!"

Mr. Satan launched himself through the air with a powerful kick. He collided with the nearest robot with a resounding clang. There was a spark, and the robot's skin cracked slightly, It recoiled slightly, but it appeared mainly unharmed.

The robots turned to face Mr. Satan. He flinched backwards, becoming uncertain. "Th-th-that should have turned it into a pile of scrap metal, why is it still standing?"

The robot that he had previously attacked stepped forward, prompting Mr. Satan to stumble further backwards. With a suddenly swift motion, he was clubbed over the head with the blunt arm of the robot. He was sent flying backwards, crashing straight through the gates to his mansion.

He lay sprawled on the ground, nearly unconcious. "Owwwww" he moaned. He barely managed to lift his head in time to see all three of his adversaries flying in towards him. Landing down in front of him, they all lifted their guns and pointed them directly at Mr. Satan.

"Hrgh, oh no" Hercule moaned. He pushed himself up and dived to the side as they all opened fire on him. A few of the bullets grazed his leg as he dove past, cutting the back of it and scraping the skin off. All the rest of the bullets flew past him and struck the mansion, peppering the walls with several bullet holes and broke several windows.

His leg pulsated in pain. He grabbed it and moaned, his hand coming away coated in blood. "Oooowwww, what are these things?"

The trio of adversaries turned towards Hercule, guns still raised. "ILLEMINATE REBELS!" they spoke in unison.

"This can't be happening, I'm the Champ" he stuttered. "These punks, they don't know who their dealing with."

Leveling the firearms with him one last time, a high voice rang out across the street. "YOU LEAVE HERCULE ALONE!"

A blur of pink flashed through the robots so fast, there was a delay before each one sprayed everywhere in an explosion of parts. Coming to a quick stop, Buu looked at Mr. Satan. "Hercule okay?"

Mr. Satan almost cried in relief. "I am now, Buu. Thank you, thank you so much."

Buu looked up. "Why sky so dark? What is that in sky?"

"They're some sort of battleships, trying to take us over" Mr. Satan explained.

"You want Buu to take care of?" Buu asked, looking at the ships.

"Uh, that would be great Buu, but we don't want them to crush the city, though" he said.

Buu smiled. "Buu know how to not crush people, here Buu go!"

Buu took off into the sky and pointed the tentacle on his head at the nearest ship. "TURN INTO CHOCOLATE!"

A pink beam flew out of his head and struck the ship. The entire thing glowed briefly, then exploded into thousands of chocolate drops, raining down over the city.

"Wow, hey, chocolate rain" Hercule laughed. "Yeah, that's the way, Buu! Give 'em the 'ol candy crusher!"

"CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE!" Buu continued to yell, twisting and flipping and having fun aiming his candy beams at various battleships.

Meanwhile, one being with a gaping mouth surveyed this phenomenon. "Uh, Tails, I think that I found out what's happening to those vanishing ships. Does the Egg Fleet usually turn into candy drops?"

* * *

 **South City…**

* * *

"Has the Doctor ever thought to update his blueprints?" Shadow sighed, looking at the burning wreckage lying in the outskirts of the city. Without looking, Shadow snapped his fingers, and another ship directly above him was blown apart with a chaotic explosion.

"They seem even more fragile than before" Shadow commented. "Here I am, weakened and alone, yet these things are shattering like stalagmites."

There was only a single ship left in the sky above the city. "Well, down the the last man. Might as well make this interesting."

With a flash of energy, Shadow vanished and reappeared on the deck of the flagship. Alarms immediately started blaring as every robot and cannon turned his way.

Shadow chuckled and put his hand on his head. "Maybe if there were twice as many, and he replaced all his Egg Pawns with his Emperor models, it would be a fair fight."

The nearest robots, carrying lances, lowered them and charge Shadow. Shadow floored himself and let the lances dart overhead of him. He curled up and kicked the weapon directly overhead, then he kicked it into the air. Standing up, he snatched it out of the air and brought it down at an angle, cutting through all three robots at once. Each one exploded and peppered Shadow with random parts.

Dozens of robots proceeded to aim an army's' worth of weaponry at Shadow and opened fire one the hedgehog. Twirling the lance rapidly, he deflected every projectile, then frowned. "Well, I appear to be at a disadvantage. I'm melee, and they're all long range. It looks like I'll have to fix that." Pulling a capsule out, he clicked it and threw it in the air. "I really must thank her for capsulizing my favorite toy."

Holding his arms out, a long black and red barrel of a weapon fell into his hands. If a robot could go wide eyed, every single Egg Pawn did. "Oh, you seem to remember this little thing. Well, let me acquaint you with it." Lowering the gun and aiming at the nearest cluster, he declared, "I missed this thing!"

The gun fired out several long shots, immediately vaporizing several dozen of his opponents. "The Shadow Rifle rocks" Shadow said smugly.

The remaining forces shook off their robotic shock and took aim at him once more. "Oh, how cute, they still think that they can fight back. Okay, time to prove them wrong. I can waste a couple of minutes."

As another hellstorm began to fly at Shadow, he too took aim at them. "Here goes!"

* * *

 **West City…**

* * *

"Great job, guys, over three quarters of the Egg Fleet readings have vanished from the globe" Tails congratulated. "Just don't rest yet, there are still some left, and we have that armada that's going to be here soon. Just keep up the good work."

Sonic was breathing hard. "Right, I'll try" he panted.

"By the way Sonic, when you're done, I could use your help. I'm planning to take the Tornado to take the fight to the Egg Carrier" Tails said.

Sonic shook his head in shock. "No, don't even think about it Tails! Without the Chaos Emeralds powering it, the Tornado could go down easily. Besides, Eggman, and maybe Nazo or Frieza are there. I don't need you going and dying on me, ok?"

"Right, good point Sonic" Tails said, lighter than before. "I'll take on the fleet, but I'll steer clear of the Carrier."

"Ok" Sonic said. "Alright, time to clear out the rest of West City!"

 **Capsule Corp. Bunker…**

The earth shook as more platoons of robots came crashing down to the city.

"Hrrgh" Chi-Chi groaned as the room rocked again. She was curled on the ground, holding Goten.

Debris fell from the ceiling as another heavy bout of robots descended. Goten struggled in Chi-Chi's arms. "Come on, Mommy, let me go out there and fight. I can _help!_ "

"No way, Goten, I need to keep you safe from harm, that's a mother's job!" Chi-Chi declared.

Trunks walked up to them. "Come on, if me and Goten do the Fusion Technique, we're unbeatable. No one will be able to stand up to us!"

Bulma crouched by her son. "That's why you guys are the reserve forces. If we need your help, we'll let you go then. But for now, stay here."

Trunks sighed. "Fine, I'll stay, for a while."

Videl sat in the corner, a cradle in her lap as she rocked a child inside back and forth. "Don't worry, Gohan and the others will have this planet free faster than you can say 'Saiyan'."

"Yeah, let's just hope that-" Bulma began to say before a loud voice echoed through the room.

" _Hello, Bulma?"_

* * *

 **Beerus' Planet...**

* * *

"Hello, Bulma?" Whis asked. "Are you there? Sorry, I got your message a bit late."

Vegeta raised his eyebrows. "Bulma? Why's she calling?"

" _WHAT THE HELL, WHIS!"_ Bulma's voice came booming through the staff. " _I TRY TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU HALF AN HOUR AGO ABOUT A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION, AND ALL YOU SAY IS SORRY?"_

Whis appeared slightly miffed. "You know, I do have to tend to Lord Beerus, not everything can be as you wish it to be, Bulma."

" _Whatever!"_ Bulma said sternly, but not as loud. " _Just tell Goku and Vegeta to get back to Earth this instant! Those bastards Frieza, Nazo, and that scientist are taking over the planet, AND WE COULD REALLY USE THE ASSISTANCE!"_

"Frieza!? Nazo!?" Goku exclaimed.

" _Yeah, you heard it right!"_ Bulma said. " _So use you Instant Transmission and get here this instant!"_

"Ooooooh, Bulma, you know that won't work" Goku said sheepishly. "Ever since that event happened, you know that the Earth's energy is too mixed up for me to sense anything. Maybe if someone was exerting power on Buu's level, while I was there, it might work. But at this distance, there's no chance. Instant Transmission won't work!"

" _Great, just peachy"_ Bulma growled.

"Well, Bulma, if you wanted, I could take these two to the Earth for you, but I would need another reason for going" Whis said.

" _How about a strawberry sundae?"_ Bulma asked. " _I made one up for a party later, but it's your if you get Goku and Vegeta here pronto!"_

"Oo, a sundae you say?" Beerus said walking up. "You can count me in."

" _Fine, you come too. How long will it take for you to get here?"_ Bulma asked.

"Well, on average, a trip from here to Earth would take around twenty five minutes" Whis said.

Bulma sighed. " _I guess if there's no other way. Just take off as soon as you can!"_

"Right. Whis, can we leave now?" Goku asked.

"Why, yes. Any time" Whis said.

"Okay, because we need to go, now. We can't let Frieza take over our planet" Goku said.

"Right, step this way you three" Whis said.

* * *

 **West City…**

* * *

"Haaaa!" Sonic shouted firing a powerful blast of wind, piercing the engine of the final ship in the sky. Immediately, he turned and leapt off of the ship, plummeting towards the ground.

Crashing in an outer field, Sonic got up gingerly. "This is a lot tougher than I remember" he panted out. A cluster of robot parts went flying over his head, and moments later, Gohan landed beside him. "And that's all the foot soldiers?

"Should be" Gohan said, rubbing his shoulder. "I hope that we're done with metal heads, because they are a little hard on the old fists."

"Yeah, we're done here, but not totally done" Sonic said.

"Yeah, right. What's their ETA?" Gohan asked.

"According to Tails…" Sonic said, then frowning as he gazed at the sky, "Any second."

Clouds above them parted as multiple ships of a new design came soaring in towards the planet.

"Right on schedule" Gohan frowned.

"Yep" Sonic said. "Thing are only just beginning for us. I'm not sure how much longer I can go at this rate. How much stronger are these guys than the robots."

"Frieza's Army is quite a bit more powerful than these guys, but they go down a lot easier" Gohan said. "Advantage of not being made of metal."

"Ok" Sonic said. "Let's see how long we can hold out. I may need to bust out a special move of mine to keep going."

"That enigmatic trump card you keep referring to?" Gohan asked.

"No, I don't think that it will work with our Chaos Emeralds on the fritz, this is something different, but i wanted to keep it under wraps, because I'm only going to get the element of surprise out of it once."

As the ships grew closer, Gohan got into a fighting stance. "Well, whatever it is, I hope that it buys us the edge that we need."

Sonic nodded and looked towards the oncoming aliens. "Me too."

* * *

 **Sorry it took so long to update guys. I've been sleep deprived lately, and my grades are falling behind, so that means less time to work on it, but at least I've got this up. I hope you enjoyed, and I hope I can get this next chapter up sooner. Read, review, and see you later!**


	25. The Real Fight Begins

**Far Plains…**

* * *

"Lord Frieza, we are so glad to hear that you returned" a small blue man said while bowing.

The flagship of the Frieza fleet settled down in a far away location, away from the action. The Egg Carrier had settled down in the nearby bay as Frieza went ashore.

"Yes, you were the one who ran my armada while I was away, weren't you?" Frieza asked without interest as he looked down on the man before him. "You were the commander of the armies controlling the planets under my control in Sector 73, right?"

"Y-yes, I'm Sorbet" he introduced himself. "Of course, I could never run the Frieza Force as well as you could, but I have done my best to hold it together."

"Hmm" Frieza huffed. "Your best, eh?"

"Yes, my Lord" Sorbet said. "Much of the army is doing well, and my two elite warriors are stronger than your elite guard were."

"Oh, more powerful than Dodoria and Zarbon?" Frieza asked.

"Yes, and they have single-handedly quashed several planets" Sorbet continued.

"You seem to have done well enough," Frieza said, "but I don't think that it's well enough for here."

"My Lord?"

"Compared to its prime, this army is in shambles" he critiqued. "These pawns may be enough to help take over some planets, but the warriors on this planet are far beyond what they can handle."

"What do you mean by that?" Sorbet asked.

As an explosion lit up the sky, Frieza gave Sorbet his answer. A chain of ships exploded in a flash of red light, the parts flying outwards and striking the ground around them. A blue flash of light happened not fifty yards away as something materialized.

Shadow appeared and looked dead at Frieza. He pointed at him and said "If it weren't for this sad attempt at an invasion, I would take care of you right now."

Frieza chuckled. "Yes? I would like to see you try."

"When I'm done trashing the trash, I just might" Shadow promised, before vanishing in another flash of blue light.

Frieza gestured to where Shadow had just been. "He is among many of the fighters of his caliber on this planet, and you saw how effortlessly he destroyed what would've been enough men to conquer an entire solar system."

"Ahh, ahh!" Sorbet gasped. "How can someone else of that power exist?"

"Oh, it's not surprising really" Frieza commented offhandedly. "They come from an alternate plane of reality, a parallel dimension, where they have their own strengths that haven't been witnessed by this world."

"Seriously? They're from another realm?" Sorbet asked.

"Indeed" Frieza said. "In fact, it was one from their world that helped me not only return, but attain this new level of power. Speaking of," Frieza started anew, shooting a glare at Sorbet, "how come, as the leader in place of the Frieza Force, there was no attempt made for my revival?"

Sorbet looked at his feet. "We apologize, my lord, but we had no luck tracking down the Namekian survivors, and the Earth was too perilous of a journey to undertake. If any of the Saiyan realized we were here, our entire galactic armada could be down in seconds."

"Yes, I suppose that a feeble army still in control of parts of these cosmos are better than remnants of an army destroyed by a quest. I eventually regained my body in these plane anyways" Frieza commented.

"Y-yes, that is good. But sir, I must ask, why risk coming back to the planet where the Saiyan who once destroyed you is living?" Sorbet asked.

"Well, I have worked out an arrangement with the ones who brought me back" Frieza said. "I help them defeat their enemies, and they offer me assistance in destroying mine. Besides, I was brought back here, I didn't come here of my own accord."

"Oh, I understand, my Lord" Sorbet said. "Sir, shall we join in on the fight against the invaders?"

"Change of tact, eh? Well, that would be a no."

"What? Why are we letting out people get slaughtered if we aren't going to fight?" Sorbet stammered.

"Oh, I never said that we weren't going to fight at all" Frieza said. "The army is a mere test of their power, to prove their worthiness."

"WHAT? These soldiers are just for them to slaughter as part of some test?!" Sorbet yelled in shock.

"Well of course" Frieza said in an obvious tone.

"But, then, what was the point of bringing them here?" Sorbet begged.

"Please, we still have enough soldiers out there to keep a grip on the planets already under our control. Besides, My army will see if they are even decent enough to face me. It will also hopefully allow time for that pitiful monkey to return, although I may just take up torturing the others until he gets here" Frieza said.

Sorbet gritted his teeth, then turned away. "I sure hope that you are right, Lord. According to the last scans we had of this planet, that Saiyan was able to contend all but evenly with the God of Destruction Beerus himself!"

" _WHAT?!_ " Frieza yelled, staring at Sorbet. "That pitiful Saiyan fought on par with the God of Destruction?"

Sorbet gulped and looked down. "Y-y-yes my Lord."

Frieza frowned. "All my life, my father praised me for my talent, but he said that there were two terrors of the universe that I was not to face. The Majin Buu, and him, Beerus. I watched the Saiyan best Buu from down in Hell, and now I hear of this. He has overcome the two threats that struck fear through the entire family line."

"Well, sir, if it makes you feel better, he didn't beat Beerus. Beerus let him live after a fierce battle" Sorbet said.

Frieza looked off. "Well, I suppose that is better. With the special training I have undergone, well, even I am not sure that I could best Beerus. However, if the Saiyan wasn't either, I should be in the clear."

"Still, I would be careful my Lord. He attained a level beyond the transformation that he fought you with. He is no longer limited to mere levels of Super Saiyan, as he achieved a level that makes him a true god."

"Interesting, I suppose that this will be an interesting battle when he comes home then" Frieza chuckled. "However, I do not imagine that I will find myself in any peril. I have attained a very great power since I departed, and I have a backup plan, just in case I start to fall behind."

Another explosion lit up the sky in the distance as another chain of ships went up in flames. Frieza smirked as he looked onwards. "Very interesting indeed."

* * *

 **Outside West City…**

* * *

"Heh heh heh!"

A large army of soldiers hovered above a pair of fighters on the ground. Sonic and Gohan stood back to back looking upwards at the invaders that had just arrived.

Sonic grimaced. "You know, it's times like this that make me wish that I could fly in my base form."

Gohan looked over. "You still have something you can do against them, right? You aren't completely helpless."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, I've got some techniques with some distance, and I'm no slouch at agility either, but their superior mobility in the air may make it a bit more difficult to hit them."

"Well, take care of yourself" Gohan said as he prepared to take off. The army was drawing slowly closer.

"Wait, before you go, let me do something" Sonic said.

"What?"

"Trust me, you'll know exactly when it happens" Sonic said.

The closest soldier pointed the palm of his hand towards to two of them as it started to glow. Sonic smirked as he gripped his fist tightly.

Just as an energy blast was materializing in the soldier's hand, Sonic swung his hand across in front of him. Some imperceptible movement rippled through the air, and scores of them were knocked soaring through the air.

Gohan blinked. "Wow, what was that?"

Sonic flashed a grin at Gohan. "Sort of a whip made of condensed wind. I needed the element of surprise for the best effect. But let's not dawdle. Go on!"

"Right, good job Sonic" Gohan nodded before darting into the air.

Already, some of the soldiers began to regroup, and those who didn't get attacked by Gohan turned their attention onto Sonic. Sonic spread his arms out wide. "Come at me!" he yelled at them.

The result was fast. They immediately dived down at Sonic from all sides. Narrowly avoiding them, Sonic leapt straight up, causing the swarm of Frieza's minions to crash into each other. Twisting in midair, Sonic gathered a ball of winds and blasted a tornado at the pile, scattering them.

Landing nimbly, Sonic smirked and pumped his arm. "SteeeeeeeRIKE!"

Soldiers still in the air were gaping at Sonic, which Gohan took as an opening to throw himself into their ranks, taking them down in record time.

"Sonic, enough goofing around" Gohan said. "I'm all one for being light about things, but now's not the time!"

Sonic sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Taking a power stance, Sonic tapped further into his powers. A wave of energy soared outwards around him, kicking up dust. "Ok, I don't care if you guys can fly, I can work around that."

Sonic crouched down and started spinning at super speeds, glowing with energy. Then, without warning, he disappeared. Within the next second, half the soldiers in the city fell to the ground, unconscious.

 **(A/N: I didn't want you guys getting board with a basic repeat of last chapter, just replacing robots with Frieza soldiers and the Egg Fleet with spaceships, so at this point, we are skipping ahead a little bit to when they've been taken care of and our heroes are regrouping. Sorry if you wanted it like that, but I figured the majority wouldn't.**

Sonic landed on the ground, panting, the ground surrounded by the bodies of the soldiers. "Is, is that all of them?"

Gohan set down near Sonic as well. "Yeah, I think it is. Good job out there."

"Yeah, well, fighting with a disadvantage like that isn't my cup of tea, but at least it's over" Sonic said.

Gohan frowned. "Not quite."

Sonic's face remained curious for a moment, but then realization settled in. "Right, we've still got the big boss guy left."

"Yeah, if you want to put it that way" Gohan said. He put his hand up to his ear and touched the earpiece. "Tails, yeah, it's Gohan. We've got stuff taken care of here. How are things going with the others? Almost done? Ok, tell us where to meet up. We aren't done by a longshot."

Gohan turned to Sonic. "Come on, we'll try to stop by Korrin's place and see if he can spare some Senzu Beans, then we'll head off to confront Frieza."

"Right. We were able to beat him before, and we're a lot more powerful now" Sonic said, smacking his fist in his hand. "He won't know what hit him."

The two began to take off, but then Sonic stumbled and grabbed his head. "Agh" he moaned.

"Sonic, are you alright?" Gohan asked, floating back down.

Sonic moaned again and got back up shakily. "Yeah, sorry, I don't know what that was about. Let's go."

Gohan looked at him in worry for a moment more, then nodded. "Ok, right."

* * *

 **Plains…**

* * *

"No-o-o-o-o, how did they get defeated so fast?" Sorbet stammered.

"I already told you, this army shouldn't have been any match for even their weakest warrior" Frieza said. "In fact, if they had not already been weakened by dealing with the Doctor's airship attack, they would not have fared even as well as they did."

"So Sir, what now?" Sorbet asked. "With our army gone, what do we do?"

Frieza floated out of his his pod and popped his neck. "Undoubtedly, now that the rest of the planet is in no danger, they will be flocking this way any time now to attempt to fight me. My powers are more destructive than any army of mine, and they do not want to leave me alone to do as I wish. Besides, if nothing else, then they will want to avenge to pathetic Earthlings that were destroyed in the destruction of North City."

"So you're bringing them here?" Sorbet asked.

Frieza looked harshly at Sorbet. "Is that not what I just said?"

Sorbet went pale and nodded. "Yes, sorry Sir, I was just making sure I understood."

Frieza turned and looked at the empty space in the plains. "Ah, and here comes out first arrival."

Sorbet looked and didn't see anything. "But, no one's there."

Frieza held up three fingers. "3...2...1…"

Suddenly, a large amount of purplish-red energy congealed in the middle of the clearing. Shadow crashed down in Chaos Control, making quite the entrance in the field.

"Well, didn't I tell you? Just me and you?" Shadow asked.

Frieza faked a yawn. "Really? You believe that you can take _me?_ "

Shadow growled, then vanished. Frieza held his hand out to the side and caught Shadow's fist as he reappeared. He then proceeded to toss Shadow across the ground.

Shadow sprang back up, wincing slightly. "How did you-"

"Counter you?" Frieza finished. "You underestimate my powers and overestimate yours. Your abilities to control Chaos have been weakened by the Dark Chaos Cloak over the planet. And besides-" Frieza continued, smirking now, "I can now sense wherever you're coming from."

Shadow looked confused for a second, then resumed frowning. "Nazo, he taught you about Chaos."

"Well deduced for a forest rat" Frieza laughed.

Shadow stumbled, his shoulder feeling as if it had been dislocated. "I'm not rat, I'm a hedgehog. Goku was right, you call anything you think of as a threat demeaning names to lower their self esteem. Well guess what, I'm too smart for your petty tricks."

Frieza frowned. "You, a threat, are you joking?" With a motion barely trackable, Frieza lifted his finger and shot a narrow beam of energy at Shadow. The beam grazed his injured arm and sent him sprawling into the dirt. "Right, you are so threatening to me."

Frieza's finger began to glow with the light of another Death Beam. However, as he released it, before it reached Shadow, a large yellow energy wave came out of nowhere and blasted it out of the way.

Frieza raised his eyebrows ever so slightly. "Oh, now who was that?"

As the smoke cleared, a tall caped figure was silhouetted through. "Oh, yes, the Namekian."

Piccolo revealed himself through the cloud. "Still attacking those who are already down, Frieza? Here I was thinking that you were done being dirty. Foolish me, thinking that you would fight with honor."

"Big words from the little green bug" Frieza laughed.

Piccolo smirked. "Oh, they're not just _my_ words."

Behind him, scores of warriors appeared. Sonic came down as if leaping out of hyperspace, gohan flying down right behind him. Silver came down, cloaked in a large green bubble, Yamcha and Tien came stomping down, and Krillin came in, toting Roshi. The Tornado came soaring in the Knuckles and Tails on board. Majin Buu and 18 landed on the ground with the others, and soaring in on a spaceship, Jaco came down, Bulma, Goten, and Trunks flying with him.

Piccolo raised his eyebrows. "What are you two doing here?"

Goten and Trunks lowered themselves out of the ship. "Aw, come on, Piccolo, we just wanted to come help" Goten said.

"Yeah, besides, couldn't you guys use all the help you can get?" Trunks said cockily.

Frieza eyed the new arrivals. "That kid with purple hair, he looks very much like that Super Saiyan that destroyed me, and the other one looks almost exactly like Goku."

Gohan heard this and went cautious. "Goten, Trunks, I would stay away from him if I were you. He may piece certain things together we don't want him to."

Yamcha looked onwards at Frieza. "So, this is the big man himself. Nah, he looked scary when he was half toaster oven."

Tien glowered at Yamcha. "Never mind how he looks, you should be close enough to feel just how strong he is."

Yamcha's laugh faded slightly. "Come on, do you take me for a fool?" Under Tien's stare, he quickly added "Don't answer that."

"So this is the the Earth's great defense force?" Frieza called out.

"You know, compared to last time, he looks like a little kid now" Sonic said.

"Last time you saw Frieza, he was in his Final Form. This is his first form, suppressing his power. Although," Gohan said, "with how powerful he is right now, I'm not sure we want him in his final form.

"So the son of Goku recognizes my true terron, how touching to see the young boy from Namek who was so brave come to this point" Frieza laughed.

Sonic gritted his teeth and punched his hands together. "Can I whale on him now?" he asked.

Gohan continued glaring at Frieza with a hard look. "No, Sonic, I need to try this. I owe him for Namek and everything that he's done since."

Roshi walked over. "Gohan, are you sure about this? You haven't exactly kept up on training, and you said yourself that you've lost your Ultimate Power. Wouldn't it be wiser to keep him waiting until Goku and Vegeta arrive?"

Gohan closed his eyes and took his glasses off. "Master Roshi, I don't care that I haven't kept up. I may not be at my full power, but I at least need to match myself up to Frieza. It's personal."

Roshi looked down. "Well, I tried." He then backed off.

Gohan reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag. Reaching in, he pulled out a Senzu Bean and popped it. His cuts and bruises faded fast, then he tossed the bag to Piccolo. "Keep them safe?"

Piccolo nodded. "Yeah, you can count on me. Go get him Kid."

"Heh heh, I'm no kid anymore Piccolo" Gohan chuckled.

"Call me sentimental" Piccolo said.

Gohan jumped into the air and landed halfway in between the group and Frieza. "Frieza, your first opponent it me!"

"So first the son of Goku realizes my strength, then he still challenges me?" Frieza asked, hovering down and setting down in front of Gohan.

"Just because I admitted you were powerful, doesn't mean I'm about to back down, Frieza" Gohan said.

"You honestly think that you can beat me?" Frieza asked.

Gohan didn't answer. Instead he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Oh, and before we begin, I would like to let you know that we have an audience" Frieza announced.

Gohan opened his eyes. "Hmm?"

A giant wave sprung up as the Egg Carrier aligned itself with the coastline. On board were several beings. Broly, Turles, Cooler, Gero, Eggman, Cell, Bojack, and others stood on deck, viewing the showdown.

Gohan chuckled. "Excellent, now we have others to witness me beating you senseless."

"Oh, and what do you have to back up that claim?" Frieza inquired.

Gohan smirked. He brought his arms up and spread them powerfully. "HaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Gohan let out a terrific battle cry, and a golden aura flared out around him. His eyes flashed green, his hair blonde, and bolts of lightning raced through his energy. Frieza's smirk turned to a frown as he watched the transformation. "Him too…"

The aura broke away, and Gohan was revealed in his peak. "Alright Frieza, I'm sure that you I don't have to tell you what I've become" SSJ2 Gohan announced. "Although this is a level beyond what you fought my dad in."

"A strapping young Super Saiyan. I must say, this was unprecedented. I was not aware that any besides Goku and Vegeta had attained this level" Frieza admitted.

"Not sure how you knew about Vegeta, but yeah. All of us have become one" SSJ2 Gohan said.

"Hmmph, well, let's see how well the legend pairs to me now" Frieza said.

Frieza had barely finished speaking when Gohan thrust his arm forward and unleashed a large beam of yellow energy. Frieza crossed his arms to absorb the brunt of the attack. The beam struck him, and the majority of is dissipated and broke off around him.

Frieza uncrossed and dashed at Gohan, who met him by darting forward and swinging his leg up at Frieza, who caught it and threw him to the side before sending a large blast of energy at Gohan, who brought his hands together and brought them down hard, knocking it out of the way.

Gohan spun backwards, soaring across the ground, then placing his hands in the all too familiar stance. "KamehameHA!" he yelled, shooting the powerful blueish white energy wave at Frieza.

Frieza gritted his teeth and held his hands above his head, a ball of red and black energy gathering. Briefly charging it, Frieza fired his Death Ball to counter Gohan's Kamehameha. The struggle was brief, then the Death Ball easily overpowered Gohan's attack, pushing it back. Gohan stopped his beam and dived out of the way of the attack.

He got up, panting. "Man, even as a Super Saiyan 2, I'm not doing anything. I thought I would at least be a match for him in his first form."

"A worthy effort, but alas, you are out of breath and I haven't even started sweating" Frieza chuckled. "I must say, I expected this to be over in under a second, but you persevered, if only for a few more."

Gohan got to his feet, then Frieza vanished. Gohan felt it before he saw it. Frieza reappeared with his fist struck deep into Gohan's gut. His eyes went wide, and his mouth was stuck open in a silent scream. Frieza jumped around him and spun, delivering a decisive kick to Gohan's back, sending him flying back towards them. He landed hard, plowing a trench as his hair reverted from blonde to black. He was unconscious by the time he came to a stop.

Frieza brought himself down as the group of warriors facing him were awed by how easily he took down Gohan. "Well, that's over, can we get to the real fight now?"

Krillin growled at Frieza. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" He flinched back when Frieza looked at him.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Frieza laughed. "I obviously hate all of you because you are friends of that Saiyan Goku. I especially hate a few of you, those who dared fight me on Namek. However, within the present company, there are two that I hate above all else."

"And who would that be?" Tien asked.

Frieza smirked. "Obviously, those two hedgehogs!"

Sonic immediately got ready when he heard this, as did Shadow, who had recently taken a Senzu Bean. "Us?" Sonic asked. "Is it because we fused and kicked your can the last time we met?"

"Precisely" Frieza answered viciously. "Now, while I wait for the Saiyans to arrive, you two will be who I utterly destroy. I will repay a debt and whet my appetite at the same time!"

Sonic looked down at Gohan's limp body, gritting his teeth in anger. "You'd better believe I want a chance at you again" he growled in a dark way, most unlike himself.

Shadow glanced at Sonic. "You ok?"

"As long as nothing is wrong with wanting to tear Frieza limb from limb" Sonic said darkly.

Shadow laughed lightly. "That's for me to feel, Sonic. Get your own personality."

"If you two are done, can we begin?" Frieza called impatiently.

Sonic and Shadow glared at Frieza simultaneously, their powers flaring up so suddenly, a ripple passed through the air, knocking Frieza unsteady.

Frieza glared at the duo. "I will take that as you being ready."

Shadow looked at Sonic. "I hate to admit it, but I may need some support from you here. This field that Eggman set up has me really weak compared to normal. You should be at full power, but I feel like I'm at about 25%."

Frieza heard this. "That reminds me…" He turned towards the Egg Carrier, then he boomed- "Doctor, turn off this barrier of darkness!"

"WHAT?!" literally everyone yelled. The Z-Fighters, Sonic's friends, as well as Sonic and Shadow, and everyone aboard the Carrier.

Shadow clenched his fist. "Ok, what's your angle? Why are you giving me power back?"

Frieza gave Shadow a harsh glare. "If my fight on Namek taught me one thing, it's that to truly, completely destroy somebody, you let them reach their maximum power before you defeat them. And that is exactly what I plan to do here."

There was a change in the air, and Shadow began to glow with Chaos Energy. Shadow laughed out loud. "You have more pride than a Saiyan, Frieza. You just signed your defeat! You can't beat the two of us at full power."

"Oho, did I say that I was fighting you alone?" Frieza asked. "Two on one is fairly unsportsmanlike."

Shadow and Sonic frowned. "Then what do you presume? Taking turns?"

"Correct. At first, I was going to utilize a partner of my own, to match you, but that would make things too easy, and not nearly satisfying enough" Frieza said. "I want to crush each of you with my bare hands."

"I'm first" Sonic said to Shadow. "You already had a shot."

Shadow looked angry for a moment, as if he would argue, but then he sighed. "Fine, good luck."

Sonic stepped up. "You know, lizard man, Goku didn't teach me much about sensing energy, but I'm fairly confident, that with my potential power, I'm more than a match for you right now."

"You are quite overconfident, but nonetheless, I must concur, that in my current form, you have a great advantage" Frieza said. "Which is why I will skip the formalities and go straight to the form you will recognize me the most in."

A pillar of energy shot up around Frieza, soaring into the sky. The insides of the pillar glowed brightly, shielding Frieza from view. Energy blasting outwards knocked Sonic and Shadow down, and it intensified even further.

Then the energy diffused and vanished, revealing the being within. Frieza stood before them in his full glory, hands splayed out to the sides and feet one in front of the other.

Sonic too got into a fighting stance, a blue hurricane wrapping around him and flattening the surrounding area. His eyes became a deep sharp green, and his quills uplifted, giving him an ethereal appearance.

The two superpowered warriors faced each other down on the battlefield. Frieza smirked. "I hope you know what you're jumping into."

"Trust me Frieza, I have no intention of losing" Sonic replied cockily.

The two merely studied each other for several long moments, waiting to see who would make the first move. Then…

Sonic and Frieza vanished simultaneously, clashing in the center. Sonic skidded backwards when they collided, and Frieza chased him down.

Roshi rubbed his eyes and looked on to the fight. "Amazing, he may not be able to match Frieza in power, but his speed is an incredible banus that puts him almost in the same tier!"

Sonic leaned down as Frieza struck towards him again, narrowly avoiding his attack, then spinning around and kicking Frieza in the back. Frieza stumbled very slightly, then turned around and struck Sonic in the side of the head, sending him flying.

Sonic shook off the bleariness that came with the heavy blow, then spun and skidded across the ground backwards. His aura creeped down his arms and gathered in each hand. "Ok Frieza, take this! SONIC WIND!"

Sonic shot a swarm of powerful blades of wind at Frieza, who attempted to dodge through them. However, he got ahead of himself, and one blade grazed along his tail and peeled off a part of it. Frieza looked more furious than hurt, and immediately thrust his hand forward, sending a very thick wave of purple energy at Sonic.

Sonic grunted, then gathered up as much wind in the palms of his hands as before. Pushing his hands together, he shot out a condensed blue wave of energy, clashing magnificently with Frieza's beam. However, it lasted only briefly against Frieza's assault before it gave way and punctured straight through it. The beam overshadowed Sonic as he disappeared within the light.

"SONIC" Shadow yelled.

The light cleared, and reveal a Sonic, barely standing before he collapsed to all fours, wheezing heavily. His wind aura was barely visible now.

Knuckles yelled at Shadow. "Hey, you've gotta get in there, otherwise, Sonic's done for!"

Shadow nodded and powered up. However, he locked eyes with the battered Sonic for a second, and his aura faded.

"What are you doing?" Knuckles asked angrily.

Shadow gave Knuckles a confident grin. "He's got this."

Frieza looked on to the downed hedgehog. "And to think, you thought you could match me. You barely lasted dany longer than poor Gohan did, although, you did last as long against my final form as he did my first. You are quite the prodigy."

Sonic coughed, blood lightly spattering the ground. "Complements, no thanks." He struggled to his feet. "How about you kiss this spiny blue butt?"

Frieza gained a look of extreme rage. "You _insolent PEST!_ " he screamed, blasting another wave of energy at Sonic, this one even larger than before.

To someone who didn't know Sonic, they wouldn't have noticed the smirk that appeared on his face as a smirk. His aura suddenly flared back up, and within his hands, it was almost as if he had harnessed the entire Jetstream in a single point. Pushing forward, he unleashed a powerful vortex, not a solid beam, but more of a tornado with the touchdown point in his hands.

Frieza's beam fired straight down the vortex, and as it did, the color went from blue to purple, almost as if sonic's tornado was absorbing the energy wave into itself.

Frieza's eyes were wide. " _What?_ "

Sonic's eyes also opened wide, as his tornado began to shrink, not from losing power, but Sonic was pulling the energy back into himself. The winds returned to his aura, now glowing with extra power. As the last bit was absorbed into himself, Sonic's aura was now completely purple.

Everyone watching was shocked. Sonic looked over to the group and called over to Gohan. " _That_ was my special technique."

Frieza was furious. "You absorbed my attack?!"

Sonic smirked. "Yeah" he said, running his finger under his nose. In his head, he thought "Man, I hope he doesn't figure out the limits it has. I need to charge up a lot of winds to pull that off, and if it's too powerful, I won't be able to absorb it."

Sonic didn't give him a chance to work it out. With the new energy flowing through him, he darted at Frieza with super speed, immediately unleashing a heavy barrage of attacks. The power he had gained didn't but him above Frieza by a longshot, but now he was pressuring him.

He and Frieza were trading blows at lightning speed, so fast, it looked like there was only blurry space in between the two. Frieza backed up slightly and spun, tripping Sonic up with his tail and knocking him off of his feet, then he proceeded to slide underneath Sonic and kick him sky high.

Sonic turned around in the air to meet Frieza as he came up towards him. He readied a blow as he neared, but then he vanished. A split second later, sonic was heavily struck from behind, sending him careening into the dirt below and sending up a plume of dust.

Frieza sighed. "I suppose that that was all the fight that he had in him."

The Z-Fighters looked in shock at Sonic's point of contact. There was no motion within the dust, and it appeared as if Sonic may be down for the count.

Then, a thin beam of yellow light came peering through the cloud. Dozens more of lights began breaking through the haze, until an explosion cleared away the entire cloud.

A golden object darted into the air and came to a stop in front of Frieza. "You didn't really think I was down, did you?" it asked.

Super Sonic confronted Frieza in midair. "Yeah, but I'm not surprised you got back up."

Sonic dashed forward and slammed into Frieza, hard, sending him crashing into the ground. "Thank you, for your generous donation of power, without which, none of this would be possible" Super Sonic said cheesily, mock bowing.

Frieza reappeared, quicker than a bolt of lightning, striking Sonic backwards through the air, and following it up by going into spike him back down. However, with his enhanced speed, power, stamina, and ability to fly in his Super State, Sonic curled around and kicked Frieza's hand away and struck him with the other foot, which Frieza responded to by kneeing Sonic in the gut.

Sonic hugged himself for a brief moment, soothing the pain that he was feeling. Frieza dashed backwards and pointed at Sonic, unleashing a Death Beam on him, which sonic deflected with a backhand. He followed it up with a Super Sonic Boost, slamming into Frieza once more until he crashed into the ground. Sonic leapt backwards as soon as they connected, leaving Frieza in the dust. Frieza got to his feet, bruised a bit.

He brushed off his shoulder, then looked at Sonic. "Well, the rat keeps pulling out surprises, eh?"

"You bet, I'm not just going to roll over and die" Super Sonic said.

"We may be evenly matched now, but if you were to take that so called Hyper Form, I'm afraid that I wouldn't last very long" Frieza commented. "I can only see one option at this point."

"Surrender?" Super Sonic asked.

"Oh, how you wish" Frieza said. "You know this is my final form, my true form, and that is correct. However, you may also know that my brother, Cooler, he has attained a form beyond his own true form, one that he calls his 'Super-Evolution.'"

"And the point to this lesson on your anatomy?" Super Sonic yawned.

"My training with your dear friend Nazo has done much more for me than I have let on" Frieza revealed. "I have nowhere near reached the limit to my power!"

"Ah!" Super Sonic gasped.

"And while I would love to drag things out, I'm afraid, that at this point, remaining in this current state would be very counter-beneficial to me" Frieza said.

"You'll only transform when I say you do!" Super Sonic yelled. "And I say that you're not going to get a chance."

Sonic dashed at Frieza, his aura flaring and his fist packed with energy. However, before he reached Frieza, it was as if he had struck an invisible barrier and was knocked backwards. He landed hard and looked up at Frieza.

Frieza's aura had gone from purple to a flaring flame. His entire body was glowing white hot, as if he were a piece of metal in a forge. The white glow became painfully intense to view and spread across his body. Dark clouds gathered in the sky, dimming the entire area. The ground began to crack and fissure, and pieces broke away and disintegrated into the air. It felt as if the entire planet was shaking apart as more and more power was generated.

Frieza let out a primal scream as his transformation intensified, the wave of energy that pulsed outwards was searing on contact, and knocked everyone off balance. Gohan and the others were actually feeling woozy just from sensing the amount of power Frieza was generating.

A pillar of flames shot into the sky and straight into the atmosphere, and Frieza's power skyrocketed to levels never before reached. The energy exploded outwards and scattered, embers travelling on the wind.

A miniature sun seemed to have ensnared Frieza, one that was gradually shrinking into his aura. The entire area had gone dim and dreary just from the amount of dark energy that had been generated.

The sun finally shrunk far enough to reveal Frieza. His skin seemed to have caught fire, as his aura took on the appearance of a sinister fire. His skin still glowed as if he were still in the forge. The entirety had turned bright gold. Not gold like Sonic's Super Form, but a true, metallic gold. His feet, hands, and face had turned to a deep purple. His red eyes had taken on a much harsher hue, and his entire face was etched with Frieza.

Frieza raised a finger. "Gold is the color of victory, so I figured, what better color to represent the transformation, my Ultimate Evolution, that will always grant my victory? I'll keep it simple for your under developed brain and call this form Golden Frieza."

Sonic took a moment to find his words, but when he did, they came out confident. "So you painted yourself. Hope it wasn't toxic, I'd hate to chalk up your defeat to fumes."

"Still acting all cheeky, eh?" Golden Frieza asked. "I promise you, you won't act this way for long."

Sonic frowned. "Well, since you mentioned it earlier, I think that it's time I advance to my next level as well."

The Super Emerald re-materialized around Sonic, then the rest appeared. Sonic leapt into the air, flying multicolored through the air. Super sonic went up, and Hyper Sonic came down.

"Alright, Frieza, what do you say we really get things rolling?" Hyper Sonic asked.

Frieza gave no response. Sonic said angrily "Hey, I asked you something."

When Frieza still didn't respond, Sonic attacked him. "Alright, now you'll wish you'd responded!"

Sonic swung at Frieza with his leg and struck on his neck. Frieza made no motion to dodge and it struck directly. Golden Frieza didn't even twitch.

"What?" Hyper Sonic asked.

Sonic backed up and launched a heavy punch at Golden Frieza's face. However, this time, he moved. Tilting his head so that they punch soared past, he followed it up with a heavy blow of his own to Hyper Sonic's gut. Sonic was sent rocketing into a large mountain, sending it collapsing around him.

There was a brief pause before Sonic could dig himself out, and he was struggling hard when he came out. Panting heavily, he clawed his way to the surface, half buried by the time he collapsed. He retched and decorated the the rubble around him bright red. "Im, poss, ible" he wheezed.

"Perhaps now that you understand true terror" Golden Frieza laughed.

Sonic gathered as much energy as he could and burst through the rubble, blasting outwards and landing in front of Frieza, favoring his left leg. "Lucky, shot" he coughed out.

Faster than he could blink, Golden Frieza moved in front of Sonic and nearly knocked him into orbit with a simple backhand. When sonic came crashing down, he felt like he broke every bone in his body.

Sonic still managed to find the strength to struggle to his feet. "You, yo-" Hyper Sonic was cut off by a hacking cough which nearly tore his lungs apart. He fell to all fours, dropping to his base form.

"Is it over already?" Golden Frieza laughed. He walked up and wound his foot up. "What a shame, I wish you could've lasted longer. I expected more."

Just as he was about to let him have it, he heard Sonic wheeze "wait."

Frieza looked down on him. "Yes?"

Sonic pushed himself into a stooping stance. "You, you said, you wanted us, to be full power, right?"

Golden Frieza stared him down. "Yes, so? You've already gone full power, and lost easily, so what about it?"

"I, I can go, even further" Sonic revealed.

Frieza raised his eyebrows. "Oh? According to Nazo, Eggman, and what I've seen, Hyper is your limit."

Sonic stood up straighter and caught his breath. "I, have a new form" he said. "Would you like to see it?"

"Oh, now this does intrigue me" Golden Frieza admitted.

"Give me, just a couple of minutes, and I can show you" Sonic assured.

Frieza frowned. "You have two minutes, you better get moving."

Sonic nodded. Taking a deep breath, he ran over to the group.

Shadow walked up to him. "What's going on? He was kicking you around like a ragdoll out there."

Sonic looked at Shadow. "Shadow, Hyper form isn't enough. Heck, Shadic probably wouldn't be enough. We only have one choice."

Shadow gave Sonic a hard look. "You don't mean…"

Sonic matched Shadow's look. "I didn't want to use it so soon, nor did I expect to have to use it so early into the fight but there's no other choice. He's too powerful."

Shadow nodded. "So it's time?"

Sonic nodded in response. "Get Knuckles. It's time. Time for our trump card."

* * *

 **Here we are. Next chapter, you all will be able to see exactly what this trump card of Sonic's is. Now, before I sign off for now, I have a quick question. Obviously, I'm doing Resurrection 'F' right now, at least, a rehashing of it. I have 2 other, 'arcs,' so to speak, planned for this story. One thing I want to figure out now, how many of you guys would like me to recreate the God of Destruction Tournament for this story. I don't want to steal much from Dragon Ball Super, but it was an idea I had, and I want to see, would you guys like that. I'm neutral about it, so I'll set up a poll. I need at least a 50+% to do it, so vote if you want it, and vote against if you don't. I'll set up the poll tonight, but in the meantime, I hope you all enjoyed. Drop a review, and look forward to the next chapter. Sonic the Saiyan, signing off!**


	26. Trump Card Revealed

**Plains…**

* * *

"Sonic, are you sure about this?" Knuckles asked.

"Um, did you see how badly I got kicked around in my Hyper Form out there?" Sonic asked rhetorically. "At this point, even Hyper Shadic wouldn't fare much better. His new Golden Evolution or whatever is beyond anything we've ever fought."

"He's right, Knuckles" Shadow said. "This is our only chance."

Knuckles crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Not the best time to be testing out a theory" he said. He opened his eyes and looked right into Sonic's. "Even if it does work, you know how violent Chaos Energy is. That much power could easily destroy you, like that Kaioken Goku talked about."

"I know, but would you rather I be alive, and helpless as I'm beaten senseless, or passed on so that I don't have to endure it?" Sonic asked darkly. "Besides, the Master Emerald's form of Chaos Energy is much more stable than average Chaos, right?"

"Yeah…" Knuckles said uncertainly.

"So get to it, before we're all killed" Sonic growled.

Shadow stepped up to Sonic. "Before that, I have a question. Ever since this invasion started, you've been feeling much more violent. This tone and attitude isn't your normal seriousness. What's going on?"

"Are you going to get on me for taking things more seriously, or are you going to help me send this creep back to the Otherworld?" Sonic glowered.

"I just want to know-" Shadow shot back, before he was cut off by Frieza.

"You only have 90 seconds left!" Golden Frieza yelled.

Sonic looked back at Shadow. "So can we do this? I actually like life."

Shadow sighed. "Fine. Knuckles, let's go."

Knuckles walked over and stood next to Shadow. The two vanished in a flash of Chaos Control.

Sonic turned to Gohan. "Hey, can you pass me one of the Senzu Beans? I really need my strength."

Gohan tossed one to Sonic, then looked at him. "Ok, spill, what is this trump card that you're pulling out, and how do you know that it's enough to beat him."

Sonic sighed. "I don't actually know that it's enough, but at this point, like I said, it's our best shot."

"But what is it?" Gohan pressed.

Sonic looked over at Frieza who was staring off into the air. "Best I not spoil it. You'll know exactly what it is when I use it."

"Your time is half up, and here you are, standing around" Golden Frieza said, looking at them again. "Is this a pathetic ploy for time to stall until your Saiyan friends arrive?"

With a bright flash of light, Shadow and Knuckles reappeared on the plains, the massive gem known as the Master Emerald in tow behind them.

On the Egg Carrier, Nazo narrowed his eyes at the appearence at the Emerald. "What are they up to..?"

"Oh, so is this your key to victory?" Golden Frieza asked. "Better use it within the next forty five seconds!"

Sonic looked back at the two. He took a deep breath, then walked up. "Ok, guys, you better back up."

The two nodded and walked away towards the group. Sonic took one last deep breath and calmed himself in his entirety. He then jumped into the air and landed directly on top of the Master Emerald.

Sonic looked at Frieza. "Ok, Frieza, I hope you're ready for this." In his head, he thought "And I hope that I am too."

He readied his body, then connected himself to the Emerald. A bright white light began to be emitted through the crystalline surface of the gem, beams of energy stretching across the ground. Tentacles of energy began leaping outwards, striking the ground and plowing through it, leaving crevices behind. Smaller tendrils sprang out of the top and wrapped around Sonic's feet and lower legs, encircling him and sinking into his skin, causing his body to glow, starting low, and flaring up the rest of his body.

Sonic bent over as the amount of Chaos in his system was greatly amplified. His entire body briefly lit up white, then faded. His quills began waggling, as if caught in a heavy wind, before they grew straight, spiking upwards. His eyes flashed from green to purple, and his entire body took on a reflective hue.

"HYAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Sonic screamed, a pillar of power, bright white energy shot skyward, piercing a hole through the heavy cloud layer that had settled since Frieza's transformation. His scream began to sound steadily more primordial and multi-layered, filling the air. A bright blueish white aura sprang up around Sonic and the Master Emerald, becoming hard to look at, like a star.

Bellowing once more, the pillar spread outwards largely, bathing the entire area in a supernova of light.

* * *

 **Space…**

* * *

"Huh?" Goku gasped.

A ripple of energy spread throughout space, making Goku and Vegeta unsteady, and while the ride was uninterrupted, it was apparent that the other two had sensed it as well.

"Hey, what was that?" Beerus asked. "I've never felt anything like that in the past."

Vegeta turned to Goku. "Kakarot, that came from the Earth."

Goku nodded. "Yeah, and I'd have to guess, but I could've sworn that that felt like Chaos energy."

Vegeta scowled and looked forward. "Even if it is Chaos energy, has it ever been enough to cause an effect this far out? Even when the two fused, there was never a reaction this powerful. Hey Whis, how far away this the Earth from here?"

"Well, we're about ten minutes away, so I think we are approximately three light years away" Whis responded.

"We felt that, from _three light years away?!_ " Vegeta spat. "What are those hedgehogs doing?!"

"Hey, do you have some insight on this" Beerus asked the two.

"Yeah, we think that our friends on Earth are generating a lot of power, but the power they use is kind of dangerous" Goku answered.

"You speak of it as if they are doing something else. Is this a new type of power, different than _ki_ or godly power?" Beerus asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, they call it Chaos" Vegeta said. "It's unpredictable, but fairly potent at what they harness it for."

"Hmm, interesting. Do you think that this new power could match either of you in combat?" Beerus inquired.

"Not as far as we know" Goku said. "They haven't quite came very close to the tier of a Super Saiyan God…"

* * *

 **Earth…**

* * *

The atmosphere was supercharged with power. The clouds were all dark gray, but flashes of turquoise energy flashed within throughout.

The pillar of light had shrunk down, yet a ball of erratic energy remained sparking, keeping the results of Sonic and the Emerald from view. Everyone looked on in suspense.

Shadow in particular. "Did, did it work?" he wondered.

Frieza held out his hand wide. "We are about to see. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…"

Frieza gathered an orb of erratic, deep red energy in the palm of his hand, and directed it towards the mass of energy. Just as he prepared to fire, the ball shrunk, then exploded outwards. The surrounding land was transformed into a deep crater, friend and foe alike were sent soaring through the air by the outburst of energy. Frieza braced himself against the energy wave, but skidded backwards slightly, nonetheless.

As the energy dispersed, a green glow became visible within the center as the Master Emerald came back into view. On top of the green, a white object stood.

Frieza's eyes went wide. "Oh, now this is interesting."

Sonic took a deep breath, and opened his eyes. Barely trying, he vanished and reappeared across from Frieza.

Frieza laughed. "So I take it that you succeeded in your special technique?"

Sonic looked down at his new form. "Yeah, I think so" he said, his voice much fuller and richer than before.

Sonic's fur glinted snow white, and a faint blue aura surrounded him, making him appear to be surrounded within a large blue sapphire, which gave his white fur a blue outline. His eyes flashed purple, and his quills spiked upwards. Without even consciously doing so, the massive reservoirs of energy within his body lifted him off the ground.

"I, I've never felt like this. This level of power, this must be what Goku feels like when he powers up to his limits" Sonic commented, still observing his new form.

"Well, what is it?" Golden Frieza asked.

"Huh?" Sonic asked, looking up at him.

"I christened my form as my Golden Form. What do you call this new level you have attained?" Golden Frieza asked.

"Wow, I didn't really think of it" Sonic said, looking at his body. "Well, gee, let me think" he said, turning away.

Frieza frowned and grunted as he took more time. Sonic turned around and smirked. "Got it, since this form took nothing but a ton of light energy, I have the perfect title."

He pointed at Frieza. "Are you ready? I think that it's time to test the limits of my newest and best of Form them all. This is my _Pure Form!_ "

"Pure Sonic, eh?" Golden Frieza chuckled. "Isn't that sort of flashy and grandiose?"

"And _Golden Frieza_ isn't?" Pure Sonic asked.

"Fair enough" Golden Frieza said, no longer smirking. "Are you ready to get down to it?"

"Are you kidding?" Pure Sonic asked. "I'm more than ready." Sonic crouched slightly, placing his hands in front of himself in a fighting stance.

As the two warriors stared each other down once more, and the spectators watched in suspense, Bulma turned around and looked skyward. "Hey Whis, how far away are you?" she muttered.

Whis' voice was sent right back into her head. "Soon, Bulma. We are just now passing through the third section of the northern quadrant, so I would say we still have about seven minutes until we arrive in your solar system" he replied.

Bulma turned back towards the two. "I hope he can last that long then" she said.

Suddenly, Goku's voice entered Bulma's head as well. "Bulma, what's going on. We felt something all the way out here. Is everything alright?"

"No, but considering things, we could be worse" Bulma said. "Frieza's fighting now andAH!" she was suddenly cut short by a powerful wave of energy cutting through the energy.

Sonic and Frieza launched themselves at each other and their fists connected in the center. The impact punched a crater into the ground as fissures expanded outwards. Sonic flipped back at lightning speed and spun, striking at Frieza with a roundhouse kick, which Fieza deflected by swinging his arm up to block, the striking straight, his fist sinking into Sonic's gut, sending him reeling through the air.

"Bulma, BULMA, what happened?!" Vegeta's voice now came through. "Are you alright?"

Bulma stood up, her knee scraped on the ground. "They started again."

* * *

 **Space…**

* * *

"They? Who is they? What sort of fight is this?" Goku asked.

There was silence for a moment, then with a tone that implied a head shake, she said "I'm not one of you Saiyans, this fight is too fast for me to see."

"Actually, I may be able to provide this bit of insight" Whis said. He held his staff behind his back so that Goku, Vegeta, and Beerus were able to see it. The orb at the tip of the staff was hazy for a second, but then it cleared up, revealing darkened plains, and two brightly lit fighters, glinting like a sun and a moon.

Goku peered into the orb. "What, what is that?" he asked. "I don't recognize either of them."

Vegeta too looked onto the scene. "That yellow one could almost be Sonic, but that glare is nothing like that Super State of his."

Beerus looked around the side and looked at the same battle. "I assume that this 'Sonic' that you speak of is your friend. Well, then you'd better be looking at the other fighter. The golden one is the bastard Frieza himself."

"Ah, Frieza!?" Vegeta gasped. "He, he's found himself a new form?"

Goku frowned. "I'll say. Does that mean that Sonic has too? I would almost say he's gone Hyper, but if he was, he'd have that multicolored glow."

Vegeta was still gritting his teeth about Frieza. "Well, it appears that Frieza isn't the only one then. Sonic must have found himself a new form as well."

As they watched, Sonic moved at a speed the could hardly track, disappearing and reappearing, striking Frieza multiple times. However, Frieza twisted and deflected each attempt at assault and retaliated, but Sonic was moving fast enough that none of them landed.

"Hmm, a mere mortal, capable of such levels of speed?" Beerus asked.

"This is crazy! Even for him, that speed is unbelievable" Vegeta said.

Sonic spun around in midair and darted forward. Frieza attempted to meet him head on with a heavy blow, but Sonic spun down, landing inside of his guard, then delivered a vertical kick, knocking Frieza's head back.

Goku let out a low whistle. "Last time Sonic fought Frieza, he could hardly hold his own until he fused with Shadow. Now, Frieza's more powerful than ever, and he's fighting evenly with him!"

Vegeta scowled. "No, it's not an even match, but it's definitely an improvement for the hedgehog. But, Frieza's improved too. Sonic will be dead meat in just a few minutes now."

"Hrrgh?!" Goku grunted. He looked back at the battle. Frieza had caught Sonic's arm and had started kneeing him in the chest repeatedly. Frieza threw Sonic straight up into the air and sent a large red energy blast at the soaring hedgehog. Sonic was obviously disconcerted, but he managed to hold his arms together in a blocking fashion, weakening the impact. "Maybe, but if anyone can hold Frieza off from the Earth, even just long enough to wait until we get there, it's Sonic."

* * *

 **Earth…**

* * *

"Hmmph" Golden Frieza grunted, aiming his finger at Sonic in midair. There was a brief flash of light, and dozens of beams of light darted through the air, streaking straigt towards Sonic.

"Uh-oh" Pure Sonic said. Sonic twisted in the air, the Death Beams grazing by him each time. Sonic leaned backwards just as the last two crossing beams came up at him. Each one shot across his forehead, causing a v-shaped cut in his skin. A light stream of blood trickled down into his face, dripping down below. "Damn!"

Frieza smirked. "Well, is the forest rat losing steam already?"

Sonic raised his hand to his head and pulled it away with the blood on his fingers. He grimaced at the sight of it. Glaring down at Frieza, his power seemed to grow. His smooth blue aura intensified, and his quills began waggling more violently. "Not even close, Frieza!" Pure Sonic said. "If you thought I was fast before, you haven't seen anything yet!"

Sonic spun and pumped his arms down. The aura closest to his body flashed rainbow like an aurora. "Before now, going full throttle gave me light speed. With my new form, I'll be EVEN FASTER!"

Sonic vanished and flashed through Frieza, knocking him off of his feet. Frieza was knocked several directions per moment by a blurry motion around him. With a final blow knocking Frieza flat into the ground, Sonic reappeared in the air, hands splayed out to the sides and pure white energy gathered in each hand. Smashing the energy together into one ball, it merged, and then Sonic gathered it into a single hand. Reaching backwards, Sonic screeched "SONIIIIIIIIC, WIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNDDDDDD!"

Sonic thrust his hand forward and unleashed a torrent of shining turquoise energy, smashing into the ground and sending up an explosive, almost nuclear blast, shooting a dome of energy skyward. A high pitched whistle ran through the air as it expanded, shedding waves of energy outwards, before imploding and spraying smoke outwards.

Sonic's hands fell to his side as he breathed heavily. "That, that'll teach him to not underestimate me."

"Will it?" a taunting voice behind him asked.

Sonic turned around just in time to witness a golden figure slam into him, sending him rocketing towards the ground, skidding across until he crashed into the sound, sending up a tower of spray taller than a skyscraper.

"Sonic!" Shadow called.

Sonic flew back to the surface, headbutting Frieza at incredible speed, causing the tyrant to double over. Sonic darted around Frieza's back and spiked him downwards. Frieza righted himself on the way down and sprang off the ground, flying back up until he was level with Sonic. "How? That blow should've been more than enough to keep you down, at least for a few minutes" Golden Frieza frowned.

Sonic smirked. "You confuse me with a Saiyan. I may not be as much of a powerhouse or heavy hitter, but I more than make up for it with speed and endurance. I can go like this for a very long time!"

"Well, you certainly are full of surprises, aren't you?" Golden Frieza asked. "When I assumed my Golden Evolution, I figured that no warrior besides the two monkeys would even hope to match me. Then you pull out this Pure Form of yours, and now you are fighting, almost on the same level as I."

"That's what I am, surprising" Pure Sonic bragged. "And you can bet that I'm not done yet."

"Oh, that much I am sure of" Golden Frieza. "My fight with your Saiyan pal has taught me not to underestimate my opponents. Of course, you could be bluffing, but by judging by what you've done so far, I don't see that as part of your character."

Sonic frowned. "You don't sound that worried."

"Oh, you have that correct" Golden Frieza said. "I haven't quite tapped into my maximum power yet, so I am still _very_ confident of the outcome of this little scuffle."

"Well, allow me to prove you wrong" Pure Sonic cried. Sonic raised his hands above his head and gathered a massive ball of Chaos Energy in his hand and fired it straight into the air. Soaring up after it, Sonic got right behind it and blasted it with a powerful Sonic Wind attack. The energy ball burst, and showered down on Frieza like a meteor shower.

Frieza raised his eyebrows. "Oh, now this is interesting." Frieza dashed backwards through the air with the attack hot on his trail. Frieza aimed his hand forward and sent multiple blasts of condensed red energy to intercept each incoming attack. Each one connected and detonated in midair, cancelling out the attack.

"Very nice-" Golden Frieza began to say, but then three glittering comets soared out of the smoke at lightning speed and blasted Frieza into the ground.

"Yeah, I think that you missed a few!" Pure Sonic called down.

Frieza crawled back out of the crater. "Well, those were a bit more powerful than I gave him credit for. That actually stung!"

Sonic grinned, then curled into a ball and dropped like a stone. Sonic hit the ground dashing and slammed into Frieza once more and kept spinning, striking straight into a mountain and jumping out as Frieza was rammed in.

Sonic landed on his feet and blasted a multitude of Wind Blasts into the pile of rubble, sending shards of stone into the air as the continuous blasts struck.

Sonic lowered his hands once more and looked into the smoke. "Hey Frieza, is it just me, or are you slowing down? Did it really only take me landing one good shot on you to make you lose _this_ much power?"

The smoke cleared, revealing nothing but a pile of rubble on the ground. A golden hand burst forth from the wreckage as Frieza clawed his way out. Spitting a few pebbles out of his mouth, Frieza glared daggers at Sonic. "What do you mean?"

"Are you kidding? Are you not seeing this?" Pure Sonic asked. "You've been pushing me around since the very beginning of this fight, and had me all worn down, but it seems that the longer we go on, the weaker you're getting."

"Weaker, eh?" Golden Frieza asked. With surprising speed, he launched himself forward and slammed his fist into Sonic's face, knocking him backwards. Frieza took off after him, flying above him and sending his elbow crashing down towards Sonic. However, Sonic grabbed his arm as it came down, then spun, slamming Frieza into the ground, before retreating upwards into the air and sending a blast of pure Chaos down at Sonic, brightly lighting the area.

* * *

 **Space…**

* * *

"Oh yeah, that one had to hurt!" Goku cheered.

"The hedgehog isn't wrong, Frieza is slowing down, quite fast actually" Vegeta said with his eyes narrowed.

"That's good news for the Earth. Although, I hope Sonic doesn't defeat Frieza before we get there" Goku said. "I definitely need to test Frieza's new power for myself!"

"There's that foolish Saiyan pride again" Beerus sighed.

* * *

 **Earth…**

* * *

Sonic came down to the ground, landing just outside the recently formed crater. Bits of matter rained down around him as the smoke once more faded away. Sonic let out a heavy breath, feeling worn down from the amount of energy he had just exerted.

Frieza found himself once more buried underneath a mound of rubble. "How, how could this be?" he thought. "Could that pesky rat be right? Could I be losing power faster than I know?"

Sonic's voice rang through the stone. "Come on, Lizard-Man, did I really take the so-called "Emperor of the Universe" down so fast?"

Aboard the Egg Carrier, Nazo looked on with uncertainty. "With how I trained him, his power should be more than enough to have taken down Sonic. But his new form was unprecedented. When Frieza unlocked his new form, he slightly outmatched even me in power, but Sonic's form brought around more strength than I presumed. Just on his own, he is generating much more Chaos Energy than even Hyper Shadic in his prime. His power is off the scales." Then a thought hit Nazo. "That's it, _power_. We didn't test the limits of Frieza's new form before we started this fight. It's possible that all the energy he has to exert in order to maintain his transformation is draining his reserves."

Looking out to the field, Nazo noticed that Frieza had still not surfaced. "Frieza would be quite furious with me interrupting the battle. I can only hope he thinks of the solution on his own. If his own reserves are running low, he has no choice but to tap into another source of power to keep supplying fuel to his Golden Form. The very energy I taught him to utilize."

Sonic was waiting to see if Frieza was going to surface. He winced slightly as he waited, a burning sensation flaring through his body. He fell to his knees as it continued, his breathing slightly ragged.

With a flash of light, Shadow appeared beside Sonic. "You know, now might be a good time to let me tag in and for you to revert."

"No, I can-" Pure Sonic began before he was cut off by Shadow.

"Sonic, I can see that you feel it. There was a reason we never tried this form before" Shadow said sternly. "You should've let me use it from the start, anyways. I know exactly what you're feeling, and do you know why?"

"I have a feeling" Pure Sonic said, stepping back up as it faded away. "Let me guess, all the extra huge amounts of Chaos I have in me right now is starting to take a toll and damage my body."

Shadow nodded. "There was a reason we used to be so sparing with the Super Form. Chaos Energy, to a body that isn't extremely used to it can destroy someone. You said it yourself up on the ARK. ' _Continuous use of your super form will make you disappear._ ' Even my body, designed for using Chaos, would've been destroyed by it if I hadn't taken breaks at that point. Only after dozens of uses was I able to sustain it without risk. Hyper Form is only a step up from Super Form, so it only took a bit longer to master it. But this new form is far beyond the previous forms. I'm surprised you went this long without starting to feel it."

As another pulse of the burning sensation floored Sonic, he knew that Shadow was right. "Ok, Shadow, you win. Time for you to take over."

Sonic held his hand out. All the white glow in his body seemed to converge into the palm of his hand, until it all came flying out, gathering into a miniature star in his hand. "Here you go, Shadow. Just get ready, it's a bit of a overwhelming feeling."

Shadow nodded and held his palm forward. Sonic dropped from his Pure Form to base as the last of his energy streamed into his hand. Sonic performed a high five, slamming the energy into Shadow's palm. As soon as it was in, Sonic sprinted away, remembering just how much power the form generated upon transformation.

Shadow felt the energy streaming throughout his body. His skin began to light up with extreme energy, his fur flaring white like Sonic's had. The massive upsurge of power blasted outwards, blasting a crater in the area, lifting the rubble covering Frieza through the air, revealing the damaged tyrant at the bottom.

Frieza looked up at the powering up hedgehog. "Great, this one too" he muttered.

Shadow's quills curved steeply upwards, his black fur went snow white, and his entire body glowed with a red aura of pure power. His eyes flashed from red to purple, and a pillar of red energy shot skyward.

As the transformation winded down with a final implosion of energy, Shadow completed his power up, and the sheer power he exerted knocked Frieza into the air. Frieza came down and landed on his feet, having recovered enough energy to get back up. His eyes bulged at the sight before him.

Shadow stood before him, one fist clenched as he looked down at Frieza. "Alright, you may have defeated me with ease before now, Frieza, but now the tables have turned!"

"Oh, have they?" Golden Frieza demanded, swiping his hand downwards and sending a rift of energy through the air, piercing the air and earth alike as it flew at Shadow.

As the energy wave drew near, Shadow sneered. "Really, from watching you fight with Sonic, I expected more" Pure Shadow laughed.

With an imperceptible movement, Shadow shifted to the side. Shadow then vanished and appeared under Frieza, kicking him into the air. Leaping up after him, Shadow swept his hand across his body, and scores of Chaos Spears appeared in the air, blasting Frieza through the air. With a Chaos Control, Shadow appeared above the ragdolled foe, dropping him to the ground the hard way.

As Frieza got up, sputtering, Shadow landed lightly beside him. "I also expected you to last longer, but I guess today's just full of disappointments, eh?"

Frieza got to his feet unsteadily. "You are using the same energy the other one had, how is this possible for you to be so much more powerful?"

"You must be mistaken, Frieza" Pure Shadow said. "I'm not getting more powerful, but rather, you are getting weaker. The thing about our transformations? We have our stamina and our energy consumed separately. So while we take damage, the only way we are weakening is how much effort we can afford to put into attacks. It's the benefit of using an outside power to strengthen yourself. You, however,your body needs _you_ to keep supplying it with energy to stay up. So, as time goes on, you start to be unable to keep up with demands, and you fall behind." He then gestured at Frieza. "Or in this case, fall on your knees."

Frieza looked Shadow dead in the eye. "So, you're saying that I'm losing because I'm running out of power to supply my body with?"

Shadow smirked. "You bet. Now, I believe that we were approaching the conclusion of our little game, weren't we? It's time you face the music, and see just what happens to those who attack this planet." Shadow held his hand out, and Chaos Energy began swirling around inside of it.

Frieza grimaced. He knew Shadow was right, and on the cusp of destroying him. He could almost feel his Golden power slipping away with each labored breath he took. He felt his anger boiling up inside of him. "You, you cannot defeat me! I am Lord Frieza, and you are just a common rat!"

"Wow, then this must be really embarrassing for you" Pure Shadow laughed. "Say your prayers, Frieza, you've run out of time here!"

Frieza looked into the ground. His powers were drained, and he had no hope of fighting back. "If only I had a way to give me body the power it needed to sustain itself longer" Golden Frieza thought. Then it clicked. "Of course, it's so simple!"

Frieza began to summon the rage that he had felt just seconds before, and brought it back to the surface. He changed his senses, feeling the Chaos all around him. A massive reservoir of it stood before him, the hedgehog. Another stood further back, their Master Emerald. But, further away yet, aboard the ship, he felt the source he desired. The Dark Emeralds. In a flash, he summoned each one to his side.

"What?" Pure Shadow asked, his hand dropping.

Frieza got to his feet, the Dark Emeralds rising with him. Each one began to shed more black energy, and suddenly, a bolt of Dark Chaos shot out of each one, into Frieza. Frieza's aura went from burning sun to hellish flame. His golden sheen was overshadowed by an eerie purple glow. The hate lines in his face ran deeper than ever as he stared directly at Shadow. "Your own foolishness will be your downfall" Golden Frieza screeched. "If you had not spoiled the secret to your almost boundless power, then perhaps I would have been destroyed. So really, I should be thanking you. Maybe I will make your death as fast as possible!"

Shadow flinched backwards, then stood upright. Frieza smirked. "Of course, I realize I can't do that. I do have a debt to pay, after all. And Nazo wants to see you suffer horrors that have driven stronger insane before I annihilate you. So, forget I said anything."

Shadow got into a fighting stance and powered up, his red aura clashing with Frieza's purple one. "You sound pretty confident. You must know, there is a difference between absorbing Chaos Energy and actually harnessing it."

"Oh, you forget, Nazo taught me everything about Chaos" Golden Frieza laughed. "With all of his teachings, it will be effortless to do so!"

"There's a difference between knowledge and experience also" Pure Shadow stated.

The Dark Emeralds vanished as their entire essence was absorbed into the tyrant. Frieza gripped his hand together and watched the black energy course around it. "Now I have heard of white gold, but never black gold" he commented. "I suppose that I can't admire it forever though, I do truly want to torture you with it."

"Torture _me?_ " Pure Shadow asked, laughing. "Nice try. You're dealing with the Ultimate Life Form here, freak. I can't be bested."

"Well then, care to put that theory to the test?" Golden Frieza asked.

"I've already done the experiments, but more data can't hurt" Pure Shadow said cockily.

Frieza pointed an open palm at Shadow, and shadow mirrored him. Simultaneously, the two began generating immense power within their palms, Shadow's being red and Frieza's being purple. The two attacks were causing the air to crackle with energy, literally charging the battlefield.

"CHAOS SPEAR!" Pure Shadow yelled, firing his massive blast of red energy towards the tyrant.

"RAAAAAAA!" Golden Frieza screamed, unleashing a deadly wave of solid, dark energy.

Directly between the two, the attacks collided, forcing each of the two individuals back. As each one fought for dominance, their energy slowly began to become more erratic, until the two attacks seemed to converge, and explode outwards, lighting up the sky and covering the two in a smokescreen.

The spectating Sonic looked on apprehensively. "I hope Shadow can do it" he thought. "Because I don't have a good feeling about Frieza's power up. All I can say, is that he better stay on his toes."

As the smoke slowly began to fade, Sonic, for the first time, began to have doubts over who would win the conflict between Frieza and the rest of them. "Whatever you do, Shadow, don't get overconfident" he thought. "It took me all I had to wear him down the first time, and he's come back even stronger. You've got to give it all you have!"

* * *

 **Done with another chapter. Sorry it took so long, I'm beginning to work on another story, and between finals at school, stuff around the house, and working on starting a new story, there's a lot on my plate. But hopefully, you guys enjoyed it. I hope the Pure Form wasn't an underwhelming trump card to reveal, but it's the form I've been wanting to incorporate since before this story even began. Anyways, please drop a review in the box on the way out, and I will see you all next time!**


	27. Hope Defying Chaos

**Sorry about taking so long to update, guys. Besides getting another story started, plus a whole bunch of stuff going on in my life, I've seriously just come up with writer's block. This chapter probably won't be very long or good, and will mainly serve as a gateway into the next chapter. Sorry if you guys wanted something better after waiting so long. I'll try to make up for it next time. But for now, here goes nothing.**

* * *

 **Plains…**

* * *

*CRASH*

"Chaos Spear" Pure Shadow shouted, waving his arm across himself and sending a stream of yellow darts forward.

The darkened Golden Frieza sidestepped and dashed forward, sending his fist into Shadow's gut. Shadow hacked hard and was sent reeling. Powering up, Shadow burst forth with Chaos power. He teleported forward and smashed his head against Frieza's, knocking him over backwards.

The battle raged on between Frieza and the rest. Having already fought Gohan, Sonic, and now Shadow, Frieza's strength only seemed to continue rising.

Shadow backed up, panting lightly. "I can see why Sonic had trouble with you. I'd have to guess that even with the Chaos energy in you, as tried as you are, you're hardly any stronger than you were before."

"I wouldn't say hardly" Golden Frieza said arrogantly. "I thought you were the main expert on Chaos energies. My base power is leagues above what it was."

"And you struggle to defeat me all the same" Pure Shadow stated. "I've come to terms with the facts that me and Sonic are evenly matched. If there is a strength margin, it's minimal. However, it's always you arrogant villain-types that refuse to acknowledge power equalities or power succeeding."

"Fine, you want proof?" Golden Frieza cried. "I'll show you that my power is greater than yours!"

Dashing forward, Frieza swung down at Shadow. Shadow reached his arm up and blocked, deflecting the blow, then swinging straight at Frieza, who caught his fist and swing him over his shoulder. Shadow bent and landed feet first on the ground, and he then leapt up a bit and started a spin charge, still gripping Frieza's wrist. Frieza was brought spinning around with Shadow several times, smacking the ground repeatedly, before he righted himself and blasted Shadow point-blank, sending him careening back.

Shadow sprung back forward and began trading blows with Frieza at lightning speed, their fists blurring together like a mirage. The white and the gold lights slashed brilliantly as the two struck at each other repeatedly.

Shadow twisted and kicked upwards, but Frieza leaned back, allowing the foot to soar over his head. Frieza responded in like fashion, turning and sinking his foot deep into Shadow's torso, sending him several yards back.

Shadow hacked up a fair amount of blood onto the ground. "Damn, if only we had an opportunity to fuse into Shadic. If we could remove the negative Chaos energy, he would be too weak to fight back against us" Pure Shadow thought. "But for that to work, we would need to be on the same level. It's too soon for Sonic to transform again, Silver isn't experienced enough to transform yet, and lowering myself to Hyper would render me utterly under Frieza's power."

"Hrrgh" Pure Shadow grunted. "Looks like I really did underestimate him. Time to go for something new."

Shadow flared his powers skyward. "Alright, Chaoooos, CONTROL!" he cried, vanishing.

Shadow reappeared down by Frieza, striking upwards, then vanishing again, letting his elbow come down on the back of Frieza's neck.

"What is OOF" Golden Frieza cried, taking another blow on the back of his knees, causing him to buckle to the ground.

Shadow teleported high in the air. He started a Spin Charge and plunged like a stone at the fallen tyrant. Frieza flipped himself over on his back in time to view him incoming. "So, you want to play dirty?" Golden Frieza growled. "Fine, I know how to do just that!"

Shadow crashed down on Frieza, sending up a plume of debris and dust. The smoke cleared to reveal a kneeling Shadow on cracked terrain.

"What, where'd that creep go?" Pure Shadow asked.

Frieza appeared in a flash of purple light next to the hedgehog. "What?" Pure Shadow gasped.

Smirking, Frieza slammed his fist into Shadow's face, flooring him. Shadow hit the ground and bounced up. Frieza disappeared in another flash of light and reappeared under Shadow, kicking him skyward. Vanishing once more, Frieza awaited Shadow at the peak of his climb, and met him with an energy blast lodged in his hands, pushing it into him and detonating it, sending him rocketing towards the surface below.

"No, Shadow!" Sonic groaned.

"Come on, don't fall just yet" Knuckles pleaded.

"He still has strength left, but not much" Piccolo commented. "His stamina is fading fast after an assault like that. He wasn't prepared for Frieza to match his Chaos Control, and was caught off guard."

"That scumbag Nazo" Sonic said angrily. "He taught Frieza too much about Chaos for my liking. Not only can he cancel out Chaos Control, but now he can harness Chaos and perform his own Chaos Control? Not good, no matter how you look at it."

Gohan gritted his teeth. "If Shadow hadn't gotten overconfident and spilled the secrets of your guys' durability to Frieza, this battle could be over right now."

Frieza teleported and grabbed Shadow's leg before he hit the ground, spinning and tossing him up into the air again. "Oh, the show isn't over yet, rat!" he screeched.

Grabbing his leg in one hand and the top of his head in the other, Frieza began mercilessly slamming his knee into Shadow's back repeatedly. Shadow howled in pain as the abuse continued.

Sonic tightened his fists and dug his feet into the ground. His aura began to pick up around him. "That's it! I can't just sit here and watch my friends be tortured!" he yelled. Sonic placed his hands beside him, and his entire aura began swirling towards the point in between them.

Gohan gasped. "Sonic, do you really think that at your current power, anything you do will harm Frieza?"

Sonic grunted as he gathered energy. "Your dad once told me, it doesn't matter if an enemy is leagues above you, certain techniques are made to bridge the gap. And that's what I'm going to do. I don't care how weak I am compared to him, I am going to let Shadow at least have a chance to be freed!"

Sonic's aura flared to the extreme and he shoved both hands forward. "SOOOOOOOONIC BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" he cried.

Roshi gasped. "That form, it looks almost just like the Kamehameha!"

A massive, imperceptible energy shot through the air, streaking towards the two foes. In almost an instant, it had collided with Frieza, and an ear-splitting explosion shattered the air.

Frieza staggered, and Shadow rolled away, then crossed his arms, glowing red. "Chaos, BLAST!" he shouted.

The still off-balance tyrant had no time to recover before he was enveloped in a wall of red energy that lit up the entire sky. Frieza, moments later, rocketed out of the dome of energy, towards the ground. He landed hard, going up to his knees in the stone.

Shadow stuck one hand out in front of him, aimed at the tyrant. "Say your prayers!" he shouted. Countless Chaos Spears began streaming from Shadow's hand, down at Frieza. The surface was lit up yellow by the numerous explosions enshrouding Frieza.

Retracting his hand, Shadow clasped both of them together above his head and began spinning at high speeds, glowing with power. Shadow stopped the spin and brought his fists down, sending a massive wave of red energy blasting downwards at the rubble, detonating in a huge explosion of red light, shooting a pillar into the sky.

Breathing heavily, Shadow heard cheering down below. "That's the way to do it!" he heard Sonic cheer. "Now he'll think twice before messing with us again!"

Shadow smirked, enjoying the praise. Then, something heavy impacted the back of his neck, and his vision went dark.

Shadow plummeted towards the ground and landed in front of the group, his fur fading from white to black. His aura congealed above him and soared back into the Master Emerald, giving back the borrowed power.

Frieza descended towards the group. "I'm sorry, did you think that a pathetic attack like that would stop me? You must not have met me. Lord Frieza, ruler of the cosmos? Ringing a bell?"

"No, he should've gone up in smoke!" Silver cried.

"Well, then I'm sorry that I've disappointed you" Golden Frieza laughed.

The entire group looked at him in shock. Then, at the back of the group…

"Fuuuuuuu, Sion, HA!"

A bright light washed over everyone as a new figure entered the fray. "Oh yeah, Gotenks is in the house!" the fused Saiyan announced.

Frieza raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, and who is this?"

"I'm only the biggest, baddest battler ever known" Gotenks declared. "The Grim Reaper of Justice. Prepare to feel my wrath, lizard man!"

Gotenks' aura flared yellow, and so did his hair. It grew out to to his hips and flashed almost golden. "Here I come!" SSJ3 Gotenks yelled, dashing forward with his fist outstretched.

"Really?" Golden Frieza asked. Moving ever so slightly to the left, Gotenks soared past him, scrambling to stop in the air.

Flipping around in the air, Gotenks looked on at Frieza. "Alright, you might be okay. No more Mr. Nice Super Gotenks!"

Gotenks' cheeks puffed, and a stream of white oozed out. Sonic cringed. "Woah, what's he doing?"

"Note to self, Sonic" Gohan said. "Never touch one of those."

Sonic looked at Gohan. "Honest answer, any chance of him pulling this off?"

Gohan shook his head. "No, but every second counts at this point, now that you and Shadow are down. Without your guys' new transformation and unlocked power, we wouldn't have lasted this long."

"Dun, dah DAAAAAAAAH! Here it comes, Gotenks' ultimate finishing move!" SSJ3 Gotenks announced. "Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack!"

13 Super Ghosts flew at Frieza, laughing and chuckling madly. With a look of disgust on his face, Frieza chopped both ways, taking 8 with him at once. Immediately, each one glowed with power and detonated, covering Frieza in an explosion. The remaining 5 ghosts circled around Frieza, approaching slowly as if they were going down the drain, until the all dashed in and exploded in the center, sending a plume of smoke in the air.

Laughing, Gotenks stuck out a peace sign. "Come on, it's no fun if it's over that quickly" he complained.

"Then you won't be disappointed" Golden Frieza stated, moving forward out of the smoke. "Judging by your yellow hair, you must be a Saiyan as well. I'm always in the mood to trim the tree of any remaining leaves."

"Wha-!" SSJ3 Gotenks stuttered. "What do you mean by- AGH!"

Frieza gripped Gotenks by his hair and pulled him towards him. With his free hand, he readied a blast of red energy. "Prepare to die, Saiyan filth!" he shouted.

"NO, TRUNKS!" Bulma yelled.

"Oh no you don't!"

Suddenly, a figure materialized in front of Frieza, bringing up a heavy uppercut and knocking him away from from Gotenks.

A beam of light touched down behind everyone, revealing Whis, Beerus, and Vegeta. Meanwhile, standing before Frieza, was Goku.

"Dad!" Gohan cheered.

"Well, it's about time you got here" Sonic said.

"Huh, Dad?" SSJ3 Gotenks asked.

"Gotenks, go back to the others" Goku said firmly.

"Aw, man, but I had him on the ropes!" he complained.

"Just DO IT!" Goku commanded.

"OH, yes sir!" SSJ3 Gotenks said, jumping back with the others.

Goku faced Frieza in battle stance. "So, Frieza, picking on people so much smaller than you? Have you know shame?"

"Ah, so the savior finally arrives, does he?" Golden Frieza asked. "Good, I was running out of challenging fighters."

"Yeah, well, I'm here to be your next, and your-" Goku began to say, before Vegeta jumped down in front of him.

"No way, Kakarot, you had your chance on Namek, now it's my turn here!" Vegeta demanded.

"Oh, come on, Vegeta, I want to have a shot at him" Goku complained.

"Don't be so selfish!" Vegeta shouted. "You defeated him last time, and now it's my turn for the hell he put me through my entire life."

"Geez, okay, Vegeta, okay…" Goku said stepping back.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about a thing, Goku" Golden Frieza said. "Vegeta will be out of the way soon enough, then we can do our duel."

"Big words coming from such a small fry" Vegeta spat. "You don't think that I've improved over the years?"

Sonic stepped forward. "Vegeta, I'd be careful. You'd better leave this to Goku's god powers unless you want to end up on the wrong side of the Otherworld."

"Hmmph" Vegeta huffed. "You obviously have no faith in my abilities. Don't you worry, Frieza meets his match, here and now."

"You don't understand" Sonic shook his head. "Even if you've improved a hundredfold, it won't be enough. Your Super Saiyan 3 barely matched my Hyper Form way back when, and I just fought him. There's no comparison."

"I'm afraid the rat is right, Vegeta" Golden Frieza drawled. "I've seen the newest transformations of you Saiyans, and nothing you can throw at me can waver my hold on this planet!"

Vegeta fully faced Frieza. "Then you'll be in for a shock."

Gripping his fist tight, his arm became cloaked in a blue flame with neon sparks travelling through it. "You've seen regular Super Saiyans, yes, and from the sound of it, you even know of their ascended forms. However, nothing will prepare you for what I, Vegeta, the Prince of _all_ Saiyans has in store!"

"Are we still using that title?" Golden Frieza asked. "It holds very little power, nowadays, thanks to me, after all. You might as well say that you are the Prince of Three Monkeys."

Vegeta's glare hardened. "Oh, so you are in a hurry to die, I see. Very well, let's not keep the readers waiting!"

The blue energy on Vegeta's arm spread across the rest of his body in an instant. "Prepare yourself, Frieza, as I unveil the newest power available to us Saiyans!"

Vegeta became lost in a fierce cyan inferno, his mere silhouette visible through the energy. "HaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he yelled from within. Then, the fire began to peel away…

"Ah!" Gohan gasped as he became visible.

"Well this is new" Silver commented.

Beerus raised his eyebrows. "Oh, just what kind of training have you been putting them through, here, Whis?"

The intense transformation shook Shadow into consciousness. "Well, what have I been missing here?"

Vegeta stood before Frieza, with neon blue hair, and matching eyes. He was coated in an electric-blue aura that flared up around him like a true flame. His power was so great that the earth around him cracked, flotsam detaching and disintegrating

Frieza's eyes bulged. "What, what is this?"

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet" Vegeta stated. "I am the new and improved Vegeta, Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta!"

Frieza appeared shocked for a few more seconds, then his bravado returned to him. "Oh, such an original name. What is this, just Super Saiyan with a bit of blue paint?"

"Oh, you wish" SSB Vegeta said. Dashing forward and almost invisible speeds, Vegeta got inside Frieza's guard and bought his fist up, knocking Frieza into the air. "Tell me, does this feel like an ordinary Super Saiyan to you?"

Frieza clutched the point where Vegeta had connected. "Well well well, the Saiyan brat has truly gone far since the old days. However, you still lack the necessary power to wound me. Quite a shame, really."

Goku frowned at the scene. "Not good. I didn't think that Frieza had powered up to this extent. This could mean trouble for us."

Snarling, Vegeta launched himself forward at Frieza, swinging his leg down at him. Frieza dashed backwards from the attack by Vegeta and brought his arm down, sending a wave of energy piercing through the ground, sending a power explosion upwards going down it. Vegeta flew away from it but was caught in the backdraft and blown into the air, after which Frieza pursued.

Waiting until he was just under him, Vegeta turned around at lightning speed and slammed his fist down on Frieza's head, sending him reeling downwards. However, Frieza vanished in another flash of light and appeared above Vegeta, who didn't notice him until it was too late. He was sent down into the dust with a mighty crash.

Sonic gasped. "Vegeta doesn't have a chance. Even with his new power, Frieza is picking him apart."

Goku frowned. "How is this? Vegeta's power should be at least as high as Frieza's here, but you're right. Frieza is making him look like he's standing still."

"I think I know" Sonic said glumly. "Frieza's charged up full of Dark Chaos energies. You guys never could bear contact with Chaos power, and now, Frieza is practically radiating it out into the air. Not to mention that, but the Chaos has given him near limitless stamina."

"Limitless, stamina?" Goku asked.

Sonic nodded. "That's really our secret. Because the Chaos Energy isn't part of our own energy, it keeps us from wearing down as fast, because we aren't expending our own energy, just surplus. But Shadow went and blabbed it to Frieza, so now he's powered up as well."

An ear splitting explosion shook the air and a blinding purple light filled the sky. Vegeta rocketed out of the explosion, ragdolled in the air. Frieza teleported ahead of Vegeta and caught him as he flew. Vegeta was gasping for breath.

Goku was wide eyed. "Already? Vegeta didn't even go down this fast when he fought Buu without going Super Saiyan!"

Letting out one deep breath, Vegeta went limp, and his hair darkened to pure black. "Well, Vegeta, if you had stayed obedient, then maybe this wouldn't have happened." Holding Vegeta out with one hand, Frieza retracted his other and gathered a large ball of swirling Chaos energy in it. "You are no Prince. You, Vegeta, are powerless, and will now die."

"Not on my watch!" Sonic shouted. With a quick spin, faster than he ever had before, Sonic charged up to light speed. Faster than one could blink, Sonic blasted forward and jumped, pushing straight between Frieza and Vegeta.

"Wha-?" Golden Frieza asked. Vegeta fell from his hand, towards the earth below.

"HYAH!" Sonic shouted, throwing his hardest punch at Frieza. With their power difference, it wouldn't have done much damage. But pain can still be felt, especially when struck directly in the eye.

Dropping away from the bloodcurdling scream coming from Frieza, Sonic twisted and dived, grabbing Vegeta on his way down.

"Y-you!" Golden Frieza screamed in rage. "That's the second time you've interfered. Now, YOU WILL ENDURE UNBEARABLE SUFFERING!"

"That's the umpteenth time I've heard that one in the last thirty minutes" Sonic muttered, hitting the ground and racing back to Goku and Shadow. "Vegeta's barely breathing" Sonic said. "And from the sound of it, I won't be for much longer."

Looking back over his shoulder, Sonic knew, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Frieza was powering up. With an aura like a sparkling black vortex, the ground was shattering beneath him. His muscles were strained and inflated, his eyes dilated and red.

Sonic gripped his fists. "Not going out without a fight" he muttered. Summoning the Super Emeralds to his side, he began absorbing power from them, his fur beginning to glow.

Then an arm crossed in front of him. "Huh?" he asked. Goku had blocked him from going up to Frieza.

"Don't, Sonic, I've been watching the fight. You wouldn't do any better in your Hyper Form than you would right now" Goku said. "Let me handle him."

"But Goku, even if you're stronger than Vegeta, Frieza would still tear you apart" Sonic argued.

"Maybe, but I won't know until I try" Goku said. "Maybe I can buy enough time for you guys to use Hyper Shadic, and then I could distract him while you drain his Chaos energy."

Turning around, Goku took battle stance, looking at Frieza. The same blue fire that had surrounded Vegeta now flared up around Goku. His hair stood on end, as if weightless, and sparks travelled up his body.

"Man, you don't know when to stop, Goku" Sonic chuckled. "First you become a god, putting you above any one of your friends, and now you have this transformation too?"

"Heh heh" Goku chuckled. A massive ripple of energy travelled through the air, and a bright blue light flash through the entire sky, as Goku went up in flames.

The glow faded, revealing Goku, in his Super Saiyan Blue state. But something was wrong. In the flash of light, something had disappeared. "Hey, where's-" SSB goku began to ask.

Frieza materialized above Goku. His muscles had swelled to the extreme, making his body appear even more shiny from the perspiration coming off. As if in slow motion, everyone's gaze was brought to him. With a malicious grin on his face, Frieza clasped both hands together, and raised them above his head. Goku's head barely had moved to see Frieza, when he hammered his hands down on Goku.

Goku was sent crashing straight through the solid terrain of the field as easily as if he had been flying through the air. A massive trench was cut through the ground by Goku's body, straight out to the ocean. As he broke the ocean-side cliff, a mountain sized piece of it came flying off with him, and Goku fell out of sight, the cliff following him. A massive spray of water went up, shooting out of sight into the sky.

All of this happened before anyone could even react. Staring dumbfoundedly, no one knew how to respond. Out of the corner of his eyes, Sonic saw Gohan take off to where Goku had flown, but Frieza didn't notice. Frieza was glaring daggers at Sonic.

In an instant, Sonic absorbed the Super Emeralds, powering up to Hyper. With a blazing motion, Sonic swung his arms, unleashing a hailstorm of wind blades like never before. However, each one broke as they hit Frieza, and he didn't even flinch. Frieza walked right through it, like some sort of invisible deity.

As Frieza was about to be in touching range of Sonic, Sonic teleported above Frieza. With a massive sphere of energy in his hands, Sonic tossed it forward. The blast struck Frieza and exploded outwards, causing a massive torrent of smoke to blast outwards behind the impact point. Sonic landed and followed it up with a move he hadn't used since he fought Vegeta, so long ago. Gathering a swirling ball of Hyper Winds in each hand, Sonic clasped them together in front of him and unleashed a massive vortex aimed in front of him. The blast hit something within the smoke, and now streaked skywards too.

Breathing hard, Sonic lowered his arms. "That, that, that wasn't, even enough, to scratch you, was it?" he puffed.

"No, you rat, it wasn't" a voice came from behind him.

Swiveling around at lightning speed, Sonic barely had time to register the inflated Golden Frieza before his hand had grabbed his face, lifted him up, and slammed him into the ground so hard, his body punched to five foot crater in the earth.

Sonic's face was released, but almost immediately following, Frieza's foot came down on his gut, hard. Feeling as if some that ruptured inside of him, Sonic let out a strangled, choking sound, spraying blood over himself, and Frieza's foot.

Grabbing him by the spines, Frieza lifted Sonic up, and tossed him into the sky. He felt his consciousness slipping now. As he attempted to right himself in air, Frieza's fist connected with his spine, pummeling him back into the ground below.

Sonic felt the power leave his body, he was in no condition to maintain Hyper Form. Finding every last bit of strength he had, he stood up, very shakily, and faced Frieza, who had landed before him.

"Sonic!" Shadow cried.

"DON'T INTERFERE!" Golden Frieza shouted, thrusting his hand forward and blasting Shadow with an invisible wave. Shadow went soaring towards the group of friends and family, who had to scatter to avoid the flying body. Leaping up, Tails and Knuckles caught him as he flew, setting him down gently in the center.

"This is about you, and me" Sonic wheezed out. "Do your worst to me, Frieza."

"Nice try, rat!" Golden Frieza spat. "Did I not tell you, you would go through unimaginable horrors before you sample the sweet relief known as death? I'm no amateur on torture, rat! I know your limits. If I did anything else to you right now, you would most certainly die."

"If this is about you torturing me, then why'd you attack Goku?" Sonic asked.

"The Saiyan would have tried to interfere" Golden Frieza stated. "Better to take him out fast and let me enjoy watching you writhe in agony."

"Now therein lies your problem" Sonic chuckled, trying to sound brave. "You can't torture me if anything you do is going to kill me, now can you?"

"Oh, nothing physical" Golden Frieza said malevolently. "However, there are much better ways to strike deeper pain into you than I ever could with giving you a black eye or broken rib cage."

"Hrrgh?" Sonic growled.

Frieza raised two fingers together, a ball of energy the size of a ping pong ball sitting on top. Separating his fingers into a V formation, the balls split, each becoming marble sized. "You see, there are three types of pain" Golden Frieza stated. "Physical, which deals in wounds to the body. Nerve pain, which involves sending shocks or messages of pain through the body without causing physical harm. Much. But then, there is a third pain. Would you like to know what it is?"

"Enlighten me, wise one" Sonic spat.

Frieza smirked. "Emotional pain. It comes in many forms, but I find that it is most efficient in one way. Sorrow. And I happen to know the best way to induce sorrow." Aiming his hand at Sonic so that the two orbs of energy were aimed around him, Frieza, for the first time, looked delighted. "Loss!"

Sonic realized what Frieza meant too late. As if moving through molasses, the two orbs on Frieza's fingers extended into beams, racing around Sonic. Sonic tried to jump back and catch them, but for once in his life, he was too slow.

The beams curved towards the massive group behind him. Narrowly streaking past Goten, Jaco, Bulma, and Silver, they headed towards the two standing next to Shadow and Vegeta. Sonic's hand was outstretched in a futile attempt to stop it, as he watched in horror, as to what happened next.

Each Death Beam entered Tails' and Knuckles' bodies. Piercing straight through the heart, coming out the other side clean. No blood, the energy had seared the flesh dry. They didn't even realize what had happened. In an eternity, both seemed to collapse to their knees, their eyes going blank, their mouths open dumbly. Then they fell forward, lying completely still, face first on the ground.

Sonic's silent scream never left his body. It boiled off, leaving him powerless. The pain pervaded his entire body as he looked at his two best friends, Tails and Knuckles, lying dead upon the ground, and he too, collapsed to all fours.

Gohan was flying back through the air, a wounded Goku braced on his shoulder, the two of them watching the whole thing. "No…" Gokan gasped.

"Frieza, he surprises, hrrgh, me every time, with how much of a cold hearted bastard he is" Goku grunted.

Everyone looked at the two bodies, not believing it. "No, they just…" Shadow gasped.

Bulma pulled Trunks in, covering his eyes. Buu looked confused. "Why yellow man do that?" Even 18 looked shocked at what Frieza had just done.

Gohan and Goku settled down in the group. Frieza had stepped towards them. "Well, would you look at that? The Earth's mightiest defenses, all brought to their knees by yours truly." Looking at Goku, he smirked. "Would the hero of the planet like to try his hand at fighting me?"

Goku grunted. "Yeah, after that sucker punch?"

"All's fair in blood and war" Golden Frieza said. "You should have been on guard."

"And what about murdering two innocents? Tails wasn't even a teenager!" Goku shouted.

Frieza shrugged. "Casualties. Did you really expect me to care about weak and pathetic creatures such as those.

Feeling the rage himself, Goku let out a primordial scream, ascending to Super Saiyan Blue. "FRIEZA, YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR THIS TIME!"

"Oh, I didn't go far enough that time I murdered cue ball over there?" Golden Frieza asked, jutting a thumb at Krillin, who flinched back.

"At least Krillin came for a fight" SSB Goku growled. "Even then, it was cold murder. Those two hadn't made one move against you. You will pay."

"Hmm hmm hmm" Golden Frieza chuckled, splaying his hands out. "Come at me then, make me pay!"

Goku got into fighting stance, his aura flaring. "That's it, Frieza, this time I…" Goku trailed off, something distracting him.

There was a rapidly growing power coming from right in front of him. Rising at a staggering rate, sending small tremors through the ground. "How? How can he still have more power to tap into?" SSB Goku wondered.

But then he noticed, Frieza was just as confused about the approaching power as well. "What is this?" he asked.

Goku looked around. Unless he was wrong, the power was coming from directly in front of him, where Frieza was. A bolt of energy streaked through the air, landing behind Frieza. Goku looked back where it had struck, and gasped.

Sonic was crouched on all fours, like before, but now, he was different. A black aura had taken to swirling around Sonic. His quills free floated as if he was Super. Sonic flexed his hands into the ground, the motion of his fingers carving trenches in the stone, as if it were paper. All around him, the terrain broke off and flew into the air.

"Sonic?" SSB Goku asked.

Sonic stumbled to his feet, the black aura swirling upwards, as if it were supporting him. "You…" he muttered. It was barely loud enough to hear, but that single word sent chills down Goku's spine. "You, bastard…"

Frieza had noticed Sonic. "What is the rat doing? I thought you were down."

Sonic's head shot up, glaring directly at Frieza with glowing red eyes. "You, BASTARD!" he screamed. Energy bursting forth, nearly disintegrating the ground, and nearly bowled Goku over. Whether it was a trick of the light his aura was giving off, or something else, Goku didn't know, but for a split second, Sonic's fur seemed to go pitch black. "I, will, KILL YOU!" Sonic's voice went deep, evil, ancient.

Goku felt the power emanating from Sonic buffet him back even further. Waves of darkness rolled across the plains, tentacles of energy leaping out and plowing holes in the stone. It happened again, Goku knew it was no coincidence. Sonic's fur flashed black again as more dark energy came flying out.

A beam of black energy came flying up from the Egg Carrier, flying high into the sky. "Is that, the Black Emerald?" SSB Goku wondered.

The beam came flying back down, landing on Sonic and completely submerging himself in it. He disappeared in a wall of shadow.

"Sonic, what are you-?" SSB Goku tried to ask, before he was pushed back even further.

"Goku, get back, NOW!" Shadow roared behind him.

Goku looked back at Shadow. He was about to argue, but the next wave of darkness was so powerful, he felt himself revert. Stopping his resistance, he let the gale force of power push him back to his friends.

Shadow looked at Goku. "We need to get everybody out of here."

"Shadow, what's happening to Sonic?" Goku asked.

"I'll explain in a bit" Shadow said. "But let's get the others away first. What happens next, won't be pretty."

Shadow raised his arm, and in a flash of light, everybody, from Yamcha to Whis, was teleported to the top of one of the nearby mountains. Vegeta still lied still, wounded from Frieza. Tails and Knuckles still sat lifeless.

"Goku, what's happening down there?" Bulma asked. "Things are going crazy."

"That's what I'm trying to figure out" Goku said. "Shadow, what's going on?"

Shadow looked back down at the scene. "Rarely, when Sonic has access to a huge amount of dark Chaos energy, and he experiences a strong, negative emotion, he's, well, transformed."

"Rage based transformation?" Goku asked. "Like a Super Saiyan?"

Shadow shook his head. "You Saiyans may get a little more violent during the transformation, but this is different. This only happens to Sonic when he completely loses it. His mind is replaced by fury. He has trouble telling friend from foe. He get's unbelievable unmerciful, violent, and destructive."

A powerful wind rocked the area as the darkness dissipated around Sonic. Goku gasped as he Sonic's new form. Sonic's fur, as it had before, had gone pitch black. His eyes had become white voids, emotionless and pupiless. An aura at least as dark as his fur had sprung up around him.

Sonic thrust his arms downwards, his energy exploding outwards. For many yards around him, the ground completely vanished, disintegrated by dark energy.

Shadow stepped up beside Goku. "That, Goku, is Dark Sonic."

Sonic took two steps towards the golden tyrant, who retreated one step with every step Sonic took towards him. Unleashing his power again, there was an even bigger explosion outwards, and Sonic's eyes began glowing red.

"Um, Shadow, stupid question, but are Sonic's eyes supposed to by red?" Goku asked.

"What?" Shadow asked. Staring down at the scene, Shadow gasped. "No, that's never happened before. What is it?"

"I don't know" Goku said. His face, however, was thoughtful. He brought his hand up to his chin.

"But do you have an idea?" Shadow asked.

Lowering his hands, Goku shook his head. "No, that's impossible. Literally can't happen."

"What is?" Shadow asked.

"Never mind it" Goku said, shaking his head. "Maybe because he's absorbed much more power than before, that's why his eyes went red."

"That doesn't seem very likely" Shadow said. "But anything's possible with Chaos."

Down below, Sonic suddenly launched forward, swinging his fist and knocking Frieza back. Gohan gasped. "Did you see that? This new form of Sonic's looks extremely powerful. Could he actually beat him?"

"Probably, now" Shadow said. "Sonic's Dark Form is extremely powerful. But it doesn't matter."

"Huh, why?" Gohan asked.

Shadow closed his eyes. "I don't know. Call it instinct," he said, opening them, "But I don't see this ending well any way it goes."

* * *

 **Once again, sorry it took so long to update, and this is all you got. Hopefully, it should be easier from this point on. I was looking forward to writing this story, starting at this arc, but these fights are harder the write that you'd expect. Speaking of 'expect,' anyone see that one coming? I hope you enjoyed it anyways, and I always love a review, so if you drop one for this chapter, it would be greatly appreciated.**

 **And about reviews, sorry to single you out, but this has to be said. To the guest reviewer going by "Awesome dude," I love your enthusiasm about the story, but you're taking it a bit too far. You make a ton of reviews about things that I don't even understand what you're requesting, some obscure references to stuff I don't get, and when you did, like 6 for the last chapter, that's a bit much. Just tone it down a bit, please?**

 **Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed. Look forward to the next chapter, and until then, have a good time!**


	28. Darkness Consumes

**Plains…**

* * *

Sonic blasted towards Frieza, leaping up and slamming his knee into the bottom of Frieza's jaw, knocking his head back, before stepping back and sinking his foot so deep into Frieza's gut, it disappeared.

As Frieza leaned forward and retched, Sonic slammed his elbow directly into his face, knocking him back. Stomping on Frieza's foot, hard, Frieza fell to the ground, rather than fly away. Sonic took another step forward, planting his other foot on Frieza's chest, hard. Gathering a ball of black energy in his hands, Sonic crushed it, then brought his fist down on Frieza, sending up a massive beacon of Dark energy.

* * *

 **Mountain…**

* * *

"What do you mean, you don't see this ending well?" Goku asked. "I understand that the transformation is probably hard on Sonic, but if he can beat Frieza, won't that be good?"

Shadow brought his hand to his forehead. "It's like I said, this form is bad news. You thought you guys had it bad when you guys first transformed? You can't even begin to comprehend the strain of the Dark Form."

"Strain?" Goku asked.

"You might have had personality changes when you changed, but that Sonic down there, isn't the Sonic you know anymore" Shadow explained. "You know Sonic, he can be pretty carefree, only serious when it's necessary. Now, he's a being who delights in the pain, suffering, and destruction of the one who pushed him to this state. His powers are greatly augmented by the Chaos Energy, and his inhibitors are down thanks to his rage, meaning that his strength is practically limitless."

"So what you're saying is, he might do something bad to Frieza?" Gohan asked. "I'm still not getting it."

Shadow glared at Gohan. "I don't know how to get it across if you guys aren't getting it. Sonic's mind is practically a void of negative emotions. Sorrow, pain, and rage. He can hardly think right now, and you'd better believe, if he thought that any one of us were getting in his way, he wouldn't hesitate to destroy us."

Beerus gave a large sigh and stepped over. "Now, I'm all one for destruction and all, but why would that being you refer to as Sonic destroy his comrades?"

"He can't tell friend from foe right now" Shadow explained. "He's too far gone for any semblance of intelligent thought. Think Broly, but with even fewer inhibitors. He's instinctual right now, and his instincts are all hardwired for this."

Beerus looked down at the fight below. "I must admit, the power coming from this one, it's staggering. He may even be able to hold his own against me. And he's using this form of energy known as Chaos to power himself?"

"You seem pretty well informed" Shadow said slowly. "Just who are you?"

"Oh, so you don't know me?" Beerus asked, eyebrows raised. "Is that so?"

"Lord Beerus, this is one of our friends that came from another world, where there wasn't anyone near your level of power" Goku said quickly. "That's the only reason he doesn't recognize you."

"Lord Beerus? That God of Destruction you fought?" Shadow asked. "He looks a bit like Big, if Big were skin and bones."

"Who's this 'Big?'" Beerus asked.

"Never mind" Shadow said. "Hey, I have a favor to ask. Goku here says that you are the most powerful being in the universe, right?"

"That's true, yes" Beerus nodded. "In this universe at least."

"'This univ-' you know what, nevermind" Shadow said. "Say, would you be willing to fight Sonic if it came to it?"

"Fight the hedgehog?" Beerus asked. "I'm sorry, but I don't fight the fights for planets."

"Why not?" Shadow demanded.

"I would watch your tone if I were you" Beerus said sharply. "And I don't fight these battles, because I am a destroyer. What sort of reputation would I have if I was Beerus the Destroyer, Savior of Worlds? That's a contradiction in of itself."

"Damn" Shadow swore. "Then I'm not sure what we can do."

"What if I could fight?" Goku offered.

"Couple of things wrong with that scenario" Shadow said. "You're still weakened from that attack by Frieza, and considering how easily he took you out, and the fact that now Sonic is destroying _him,_ not to mention your weakness to Chaos energy, need I go on?"

Goku looked down glumy. "Yeah, I would probably be killed."

"Really easily" Shadow added.

"So what should we do?" Goku asked.

Shadow closed his eyes. "Pray."

* * *

 **Plains…**

* * *

"Wha, what the-" Golden Frieza began to ask, before Sonic grabbed his head with both hands and smashed his own head into his. As the tyrant was reeling, Sonic dashed up, smashing into Frieza from below and knocking him on his back again.

Twisting in the air, Sonic spin charged, climbing, higher, then dropping down on Frieza, causing another nuclear explosion of black energy to rocket skywards.

As the smoke cleared, Frieza felt himself be picked up by the neck. Gasping for air, Frieza clawed at the adamant grip on his neck, to no avail.

Sonic leaned in close. "How, does it, feel?" he growled.

"Wha-?" Golden Frieza gasped.

"HOW DOES IT FEEL!" Dark Sonic roared, dropping Frieza, only to twist and knock him flying with a powerful kick. Frieza saw Sonic vanish as he flew away, then felt a devastating impact on his back halt him still, as Sonic had warped and delivered a powerful blow. "TO BE HUNTED!" he bellowed again, dropping his elbow, and dropping Frieza. "TO BE HELPLESS!" he yelled, stomping his face, causing a spurt of blood to burst from his nose. "TO BE TORTURED BEYOND SANITY!" he yelled again, raising his hands above his hand, and blasting a huge ball of dark energy down at Frieza, detonating the ground once more.

Frieza lied sprawled on the ground, nearly immobilized by injuries. With a wheeze, Frieza's skin flashed, going from gold to white. Sonic reached down and grabbed Frieza by the neck once more. "Now, what was that about torture you taught me?" Dark Sonic growled. "Know your enemies' limits?" Reaching back, Sonic struck Frieza in the face, immediately darkening one of his eyes. "Well, your race can survive even if a few scraps of tissue, isn't that right? So, I can get A LOT MORE OUT OF YOU!"

Gripping his fist tightly, his entire body flared up with dark energy. His eyes flashed red once more as he reached his fist back, and he struck forward.

Frieza's body jerked and his eyes grew wide. Everyone watching the fight averted their eyes. Even Shadow and Goku grew wide-eyed, and Eggman himself cringed.

Sonic's fist pierced straight through Frieza's midsection, coming out the other side, his arm buried up to his elbows in Frieza's flesh. He retracted his arm, coming out covered in fluids, a gaping hole through Frieza's torso.

Shadow gasped. "Sonic has never gone that far! Even when he was darkened!"

Kicking Frieza over on his stomach, the tyrant laid helpless as Sonic stepped forward again. Snatching Frieza's tail, Sonic placed his foot next to its base. Then, flaring up once more, Sonic began pulling.

A bloodcurdling scream filled the air as Frieza felt each individual muscle in his tail began tearing. The sound was so horrendous, even Goku and Shadow felt pity for the tyrant. "No one deserves that" Goku said.

Sonic's aura flared even higher as he gave one last, mammoth tug, and Frieza's tail completely detached from the rest of him. The scream turned into a howl of pain as the blood began flowing from the small of Frieza's back.

Shadow gripped his fists. "Sonic has never been this violent, even when in his darkest hour of his darkest form. We need to snap him out of this now, who knows what else he might do?"

"How do you recommend we do that?" Goku asked. "We can't even touch him right now."

"As much as your battle hardwired brain thinks it can be," Shadow said, "This problem can't be solved with fisticuffs. You would have to completely knock him out for it to wear off, and I doubt anyone here has the power to do that."

"Then what can we do?" Goku asked.

Shadow closed his eyes and thought hard. "The first time he went Dark, Eggman snapped him out of it, strangely enough, by supporting him and calming him down. Next time, he entered an even more powerful Dark state, against Nazo. He says that the image of Tails brought him back to sanity. We need something with a bond to him to get through to even have a chance of calming him down."

Goku grimaced and looked behind them at the two. "But Frieza beat us to it…" he said slowly. "I don't like where this is going. Does that mean that we have no way to stop Sonic? They were his two closest friends."

"It's just about hopeless" Shadow agreed. "But not quite. Sonic has a someone that he's known for at least as long, and she's been at least as close to him as they were."

"She?" Goku asked. "Oh, you're talking about-"

"Yes" Shadow nodded. "I'll be right back."

Shadow leapt into the air, energy distorting around him, before he vanished in a flash of light.

Beerus looked at where Shadow disappeared. "So, your friend knows Instant Transmission as well?"

"No, he has his own way of teleporting" Goku said.

"Well that should be impossible, I'm afraid" Whis said. "Perhaps it was hyper speed, but there is no technique in this realm that allows for true teleportation, save the Instant Transmission."

"Well, he's not from this realm" Goku said. "He and his friends may not be big _ki_ users, but they have using Chaos powers down to a science."

"So you're saying that this Chaos energy is more than just a form of power?" Beerus asked.

"I'm no expert" Goku said. "But I do know that Shadow has something called Chaos Control, where he can use Chaos Energy to distort space and time. To a very limited extent, he can actually control reality. Slow down or stop time, or teleport."

"Time control, you say?" Whis asked, frowning.

"More like very limited time manipulation" Goku said. "I don't think that he can fully control time with it."

"Hmm…" Whis muttered.

Another flash of light went off right above them, and Shadow descended with a passenger in tow. "We're here."

Sally stood up and brushed off her legs. "I still can't believe that at any time, Sonic could be capable of such violence."

Shadow looked down. "Well, if you want to know his motivation, just look behind you. But I'd brace yourself first."

"What?" Sally asked. Turning tentatively, Sally's eyes widened when she saw what was before her. "No…" she gasped, running over. "Tails, Knuckles…"

"Frieza did this" Shadow explained. "He was trying to torture Sonic, but he pushed him way too far. Sonic felt such a rage that pushed him beyond all of his reason. That's why we need you, Sally. Every time Sonic's come back from his Dark Form, it's been from someone with a connection with him that's brought him back. I think that our best chance is for us to get you close enough to talk to him. You have to try to calm him down."

"Anything to help Sonic" Sally said.

"Oh, and a quick note" Shadow said. "Don't look at the body."

Sally's face grew solemn. "I already saw them."

Raising his hand, Shadow shook his head. "I meant Frieza's body."

Sally grew wide eyed. "Oh…"

Shadow nodded. "Chaos, CONTROL!"

* * *

 **Plains…**

* * *

After suffering the hellish beating from the darkened hedgehog, Frieza was almost unrecognizable. It was a horrifying sight. One eye was squinting and blackened, while the other was swollen shut. His head was dented like a tin can. His breathing was ragged and his skin was even whiter than normal. His arm was bent at an impossible angle. His body was more bruised than not, and the entire lower half of his body was stained with his own blood, leaking from two holes through his torso, countless cuts across his body, and his open tail, going down his body and forming a puddle on the ground. His aura flickered weakly as he barely hung onto consciousness.

"Look who's become the hunted now" Dark Sonic snarled. Still gripping onto Frieza's neck, he suck his fist into his face once more, further bruising the visage of the former tyrant. Readjusting his grip so that he had both hands on his neck, Sonic swung him above and slammed him back onto the ground, hard. "Unbearable torture isn't fun from the other side, IS IT?" he roared, stomping on Frieza's hand, feeling every, small crack as the individual bones snapped.

As he raised his hand in the air, filling it with black energy, Shadow and Sally jumped as if out of hyperspace, landing a few yards away. "Sonic, stop this, now!" Shadow shouted.

Without missing a beat, Sonic swung around and sent the blast directly at the pair of them. "LOOK OUT!" Shadow yelled. Without wasting a beat, Shadow sent out a pulse of energy, slowing time to a crawl around him. Even so, he barely had time to dive out of the way, pulling Sally with him, before Chaos Control expired and the blast soared past, detonating heavily and blasting outwards.

Shadow jumped to his feet. "Cut that out Sonic!" Shadow yelled.

Wordlessly, Sonic thrust his hand at Shadow and sent out a wave of invisible wind, picking up Shadow as easily as if he had been made of paper. Soaring through the air, Shadow crashed into the side of the mountain, flying straight into the rock face and becoming buried in rubble.

"Shadow!" Sally cried.

Sonic lowered his hand and turned back to Frieza. Placing his foot on his head, Sonic pressed down, crunching Frieza's head down into the stone.

"Alright, it's now or never" Sally thought. She ran up to Sonic as he pressed down on Frieza's head. "Sonic, listen to me!" she cried.

Quick as before, Sonic whipped around. The sheer force of his movement almost carried Sally off of her feet, but she dug them down, rooting herself in place. "Sorry, but by now, you should know, you can't get rid of me that easily" she said, grunting as she struggled against the force. "Sonic, listen to my voice!" she called out.

Even with blank eyes, Sally could feel the force of the glare Sonic had. "Shadow wasn't exaggerating, this isn't Sonic at all" she thought. "Sonic, it's me, there's no reason for you to stay like this" she said soothingly. "This form, it's doing nothing but harm. You know that this kind of darkness is infectious, it takes root. You need to rid yourself of it."

Behind him, Frieza let out a weak gasp. Immediately, Sonic wheeled around, fist raised to smash Frieza into the ground.

"Sonic, would Tails want you to be like this?!" Sally asked.

Sonic's entire body tensed. Slowly his fist was withdrawn. Turning around slowly, Sonic faced her. "Sa, lly?" he grunted.

"Yes, Sonic" Sally said. "Come on, let the darkness go. It's over, Sonic."

Sonic seemed to tense up again. The red glow faded from his eyes, leaving them as white voids. His quills seemed to lower just slightly, and his dark aura became slightly thinner…

Sally took a step towards Sonic, holding out her hand. "Let's go, Sonic, let it be over."

Slowly, Sonic began to raise his hand as well, and reached forward. Taking a step forward, he extended his hand until he almost had touched, then he jerked it back. "That bastard, murdered my friends, _in cold blood_!" he growled.

"And doing anything more to him doesn't bring them back" Sally said. "It only makes you drop to his level. Do you want to become the person that did that to your friends?"

Sonic growled and clenched his fist tight. "So I just let him, get away, with it?"

"Look at him, and ask yourself, is he really getting away with anything?" Sally asked.

"His life!" Dark Sonic said scathingly.

"Don't sink to that level, Sonic" Sally pleaded. "Let it be, leave it for another time. I have a feeling that he won't be bothering you again."

Sonic growled again, but this time, it was more of a defeated sigh. His aura dissipated further. The darkness in the air seemed to become less pronounced, and he reached back out for Sally's hand…

Goku let out a breath of relief from the mountaintop. "Is it over?" he wondered.

Hearing a strangled gasp behind him, he looked at Vegeta, regaining consciousness behind him. "Hey, how'd you sleep, Vegeta?" he chucked.

"Shut it, Kakarot" Vegeta grunted. Sitting up gingerly, he looked around. "Where's Frieza?"

Bulma leaned down next to Vegeta. "Calm down, he's been taken care of."

"Oh, just great" Vegeta said. "Kakarot got him again."

"Heh heh, actually, I went down in about one shot" Goku said sheepishly.

"What?" Vegeta asked. "Then who took care of him?"

"You won't believe me, but it was-" Goku said, before he sensed something. "Hrr?" he grunted, looking at the sky. "What's that?"

Vegeta struggled to stand up also. "Whatever it is, it's something dark."

"It can't be Sonic, we wouldn't be able to sense the dark Chaos energy like this" Goku said. Suddenly, a ripple of power passed through the air, shaking the very foundation of the atmosphere.

Goku ran over to the edge of the cliff. "No, no, I thought Sally had stopped him."

Down below, things had escalated again. Sonic's aura had flared back up again, sending ripples of power through the air. The red glow had returned to his eyes, and his aura was now intertwined with black and purple, swirling high into the air.

"This power, hrgh, it can't, it's impossible" Goku grunted.

"What is this?" Vegeta asked. "This darkness, why does it almost feel, familiar?"

Sally, down below, was struggling to keep her footing. "Sonic, I thought, ah, you were stopping!" she yelled.

"RRRRRRAAAAAA!" Dark Sonic screamed as the dark power rocketed into the air. He rounded back to Frieza. "No, you've lived FAR TOO LONG!"

Sonic launched himself high into the air, coming to a standstill directly above Frieza. "NOT A SHRED OF YOU WILL SURVIVE!" he roared. Charging up his darkness to the extreme, Sonic began gathering a massive cluster of black energy in his hands. The ball began swelling at an alarming rate, doubling, tripling, quadrupling, growing until it was as large as Sonic, then at least the size of Broly, growing so large, that it filled a large part of the sky, even larger than the mountain they were standing on.

"No, no no no, Sonic, DON'T!" Goku shouted. He knew it was futile, however, when it continued to grow.

"What's he doing?" Vegeta asked. "A mere sliver of the power he's gathered could demolish the entire planet with ease!"

"This, agh!" Goku shouted, dashing forward and vanishing with Instant Transmission, reappearing in front of Sonic. In a flash, Goku went Super Saiyan Blue. "Sorry Sonic, but you've given me no choice!" SSB Goku shouted.

Light began gathering in his hands. "KAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, MEEEEEEEEEEEEE, HAAAAAAAAAAA, MEEEEEEEEEEE, HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

With one of the largest Kamehameha Waves Goku had ever created, the enormous wave was tossed at Sonic, full speed ahead at Sonic, who by this point, had gathered a ball of energy even larger than the Spirit Bomb he had used on Buu. The wave collided with Sonic and lit up the sky with a neon blue nuclear explosion, brighter than the sun, visible from across the galaxy.

Lowering his hands lightly, Goku breathed hard. "I'm sorry, Sonic, I never wanted to have to do that."

The smoke cleared, and a black light began to shine through. "What?" SSB Goku gasped.

Sonic hadn't even moved. The dark energy continued to rise, becoming greater. "No way, my most powerful Kamehameha, and nothing?"

Sonic began to lean back ever so slightly, a signal Goku knew oh so well. "He's about to fire it!" he shouted. He now realized, with a deadly certainty, that it was beyond his power to stop Sonic. "No!" he shouted. Looking down below, he saw that Sally was rooted in place by fear. Placing his fingers on his forehead, Goku vanished, reappearing by Sally, before grabbing her and vanishing again, going back to the group.

"How, how did he withstand that?" Vegeta gasped. "A move like that, even Beerus would've been buffeted by it."

"As much as I hate to agree with that statement," Beerus said, "the prince is right. How he managed to resist an attack of that magnitude, I must say, that power is incredible. I would say that he's at least as strong as 90% of my power."

"90%?!" SSB Goku shouted. "But you only used 70% on me, and I went down easily!"

Suddenly, the entire planet shook, and the massive ball of energy began falling towards the ground. "NO!" everyone gasped.

"Sonic's aiming for Frieza, he hasn't thought about how much power he's putting in" SSB Goku gasped.

Beerus turned to Whis. "Whis, now would be a good time."

"Right, my Lord" Whis stated. Summoning his staff, he tapped it gently against the ground, placing a dome of a barrier around them.

The ball made collision with the ground, just as the barrier surrounded them. "We, failed, to save it…" Goku muttered, falling to base form. "The Earth, it's doomed."

Frieza's body disappeared within the sphere, which sucked in its surroundings like a vacuum. It pulled in the ground like, dust, absorbing it all into itself. Across the bay, the Egg Carrier attempted to take off, only to be drawn into the void as well. The mountain was pulled in, and the entire group disappeared into the murk inside of their bubble.

Indescribable sounds were happening in the black vortex around them as the planet was shredded. The ground split and upheaved, was crushed, was atomized, as the ball kept falling through the crust, towards the core. The bubble became very warm, just as the shadows around them began to split. Blades of light pierced through, until there were more lights than dark, and the entire thing exploded, blinding them all with the flash.

As the bright light and the deep dark disappeared, they found themselves in a new kind of void. Goku gasped. "It's, gone…"

Surrounded by empty space and massive piles of debris, they floated within their bubble in the ruins of the old planet. The entire thing had been blown apart by the dark energy, everything was gone. Goku closed his eyes and sensed out. "I can't feel Sonic's energy" he said. "He went out by his own attack."

"No!" Sally exclaimed. "This can't be happening. Everyone is gone? Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and everyone else on the planet."

Goku clenched his fist. "Everyone. And this only prove Shadow right. That wasn't Sonic out there. He wouldn't blow himself up with the entire planet."

Sally collapsed to the ground. "How did this happen? I had him calmed down, and then he wasn't…"

Goku looked out into the void. "Something happened. You were right, Sonic was back in control, and then something happened. Something else pushed him back out of control."

"You recognized that power too, right Kakarot?" Vegeta asked.

Goku nodded. "But it should be impossible, right? The only one capable of that, I watched him get destroyed myself."

"You sure that those other two clowns couldn't have been behind it?" Vegeta asked.

"Positive" Goku said.

"Come on, what are you guys talking about?" Silver asked. "It's like you guys are speaking in code."

"As they should, with you people around" Whis said. "They have memories with them that they are lucky to keep, but they had to keep it to themselves."

"That's correct" Beerus said. "The kind of information they are dealing with, it is beyond your pay grade, so to speak."

"Dang" Silver swore.

"If only Nazo hadn't taught Frieza about Chaos Energy, all of this could have been avoided" Goku said. "But because of him, the Earth, and everybody in it is gone."

A large sheet of metal floated through space nearby, embellished with a yellow seal and a black, mustached face upon it. "Looks like they all got the consequences of their actions, though" Vegeta said.

"But the Earth shouldn't have had to pay the price alongside of them" Goku said. "Damn them."

Whis sighed. "I'm afraid that this accident was unavoidable. Had you known what was coming, you might have stood a chance."

"Yeah, but how in the world were we supposed to predict that happening?" Goku asked.

"You couldn't" Whis responded. "But you might."

"What?" Goku asked with a confused expression.

Beerus glared at Whis. "Are you thinking about doing what I think you are?"

"Why, I was under the impression that you wanted the Earth to survive as well, my Lord" Whis said. "After all, you were the one who told me yourself that the only reasons you let it survive last time, besides as a favor to Goku, is because you wanted to sample more of their cuisine."

Beerus went wide eyed and made a shushing motion. "Why'd you say that here?"

Bulma stepped up. "That doesn't really matter now, does it?" she asked. "The Earth is gone. Short of making it to New Namek and wishing on the Dragon Balls there, we can't do anything."

"That's where you're wrong, Lady Bulma" Whis chuckled.

"What?" Bulma asked.

Whis turned to Goku. "Goku, if you had a chance to fight to save the Earth from your friend, knowing what you know now, would you take it?"

"Huh?" Goku asked. "Well, yeah, of course, I would have done anything to save it. But, I'm not sure what I could do."

"Yes, Sonic did appear to be quite beyond your level of power" Whis noted. "However, perhaps some teamwork is in order."

"Are you kidding?" Vegeta asked. "Just from the little bit I saw since I woke up, that Hedgehog is on a completely different plane of power than me or Kakarot. We would be killed instantly, that is, if we can even do enough to draw his attention."

"I believe the answer to your dilemma rests with a certain gift that the Supreme Kai gave you" Whis said.

"What, a gift from the Supreme Kai?" Goku asked. Then it clicked. "That's right! Kibito Kai gave me and Vegeta the Tempotara!"

"Hmm" Vegeta grunted thoughtfully, taking his own out. "That's true. With mine and Kakarot's new powers, perhaps Fusion would allow the Earth to be saved."

Gohan leaned over to Bulma. "I'm starting to think that this is a dream. Since when is Vegeta so ready to fuse with Goku?"

"Since that Shadow made me see the light" Vegeta said, overhearing him. "He taught me that pride is ok, to an extent. But when it comes to assured victory over assured destruction, you have to swallow your pride and do what is necessary."

"But that hardly matter now" Goku said. "We can't save the Earth if it's already been destroyed."

"Yes, but if it wasn't destroyed, you could" Whis stated.

Goku gripped his head. "Now you're giving me a headache. Why are you talking in so many riddles."

Whis chuckled. "I suppose I should get right to the point. We are on a timer after all."

Holding his staff out in front of him, he lifted it just above the ground. "You see, as Lord Beerus' attendant, sometimes I have to stop him from doing something, although distance sometimes prevents me from doing that. That's when I perform a Temporal Do-Over."

"Temporal Do-Over?" Goku asked.

Whis nodded. "Yes. With my powers, I am occasionally able to rewind time for up to three minutes, to stop something from happening if necessary."

"You can rewind time?" Vegeta shouted. "Then why are we still here if you only can do it by three minutes. It's been at least a minute and a half!"

"Fair point" Whis said, putting on a serious face. "This actually takes a lot out of me, so get it right the first time. I won't have the energy soon enough to make a third attempt if you fail."

Whis tapped the base of his staff on the ground beneath them, a white, ethereal light spreading outwards. Time slowed gradually to a crawl, then began moving backwards.

Chunks of the planet came closer to them. A glow overtook them, then replaced by a dark shadow. They felt themselves rising, until they came out of the darkness, a massive black energy ball, and flew back towards a chunk of ragged terrain, rapidly reforming into a mountain. Then energy ball flew up into Sonic's hands, growing smaller and smaller the longer it remained there. Sonic descended, facing Frieza, then turning to Sally.

Then time stopped, and began moving forward again. Goku looked around. "We're back!" he exclaimed.

An air shattering energy tore through the air. Down below, Sonic had powered up, his eyes flashing dark red. Sally was hardly holding onto the ground as the gale force energy pushed her back.

"No time to waste, Kakarot, we have seconds!" Vegeta shouted. He already had his Tempotara fitted in his left ear.

"Right!" Goku said, digging into his own pocket and pulling out the small orb. Reaching up, Goku fastened it to his right ear. "Here goes!"

For a moment, nothing happened. Sonic's energy continued to ripple outwards. He heard his scream down below. " _No, you've lived FAR TOO LONG!"_

Then, Goku felt an invisible force pick him off of his feet. Vegeta levitated into the air also. Being pulled by the same force, Goku flew on a collision course with Vegeta, approaching each other until they slammed into each other, and a bright light flashed.

"NOT A SHRED OF YOU WILL SURVIVE!" Dark Sonic roared. A massive amount of dark Chaos energy began collecting in his hands, swirling, swelling, growing larger. The ball was the size of a house when…

"Yeah, not going to happen" a voice sounded.

A figure came out of nowhere, dashing at Sonic with imperceptible speed. Glowing blue, a power kick connected with the side of Sonic's head, knocking him off balance. Without missing a beat, the warrior clasped his hands together and sent a energy blast into the dark orb. The blast sunk inside, and the darkness detonated, filling the entire sky with a purple glow.

"RRAAAHHHH!" Dark Sonic roared. "You, DARE TO INTERFERE?!"

"Yeah, I dare alright" SSB Vegito said casually. "I must admit, that power of yours, whew, it's pretty impressive. Of course, I'm still so far above you, it won't really make a difference, but I figured I may as well compliment you on it anyways."

"Bastard!" Dark Sonic shouted, rushing Vegito.

"Bastard?" SSB Vegito asked. "Well, that makes you an amateur" he said offhandedly, easily spinning away from Sonic. As Sonic rushed past, Vegito brought his elbow down on the hedgehog, sending him rocketing towards the surface below.

Sonic spun and landed on his feet, rushing back at Vegito at super speeds. Then he vanished. Vegito raised his eyebrows. "Where'd he g-" he was answered when a blast struck him in the back, knocking him back.

He caught himself easily. "I actually felt that. I forgot about the whole 'my body doesn't like Chaos' thing" he said. "Guess I'd better be just a little more cautious."

Vanishing himself, Vegito appeared behind Sonic using Instant Transmission. Placing his hand behind Sonic's back, he smirked as a glowing white energy appeared within. "BIG BANG, ATTACK!"

The energy exploded in his hands, blasting Sonic into the ground harder than before, breaking through the surface. "Come on, with the power you were showing off earlier, I figured that you would land more than a single attack on me. Come on!"

Sonic turned around and snarled. However, his eyes no longer glowed red. They were pure white, and his power had lowered considerably. "Ah, he's coming back to. Now's my chance to get him out of it."

Sonic vanished in a flash of black light, reappearing in front of Vegito. Swinging his arms, a swarm of dark blades blasted forwards. "What?" SSB Vegito asked. He descended quickly, but one of the blades grazed his cheek, cutting through it like paper, leaving a small gash behind. "Sharp" he noted. "I'd better end this this instant."

Vegito stepped forward and sank his fist into Sonic's stomach, staggering him in the air. Then, backing up, Vegito spread his arms out wide. "Sorry if this kills you, Sonic, but you're too strong for your own good. I need a power play to bring you down."

Sparking, neon blue energy gathered in each hand. "Let's end this, HERE AND NOW!" SSB Vegito declared. Smashing his hands together in front of them, the energy merged, and then he brought them down to his side. "Take this, FINAL KAMEHAMEHA!"

Thrusting his hands forward, a massive torrent of violent blue energy burst forth, as wide as a jetliner, overtaking Sonic before he even realized what was happening. The wave became tinged purple as it passed Sonic, almost as if it was siphoning off the dark energy.

The wave cleared, taking the darkness with it. Down below, two bodies lied on the ground. The bloodied body of Frieza, and the singed body of Sonic. Blue fur and all.

Vegito dashed downwards, taking off the earrings as he descended. They landed as Goku and Vegeta on the ground beside Sonic. Goku reached down and felt Sonic's neck. "He's alive, barely. He still has a pulse."

Beside them, Frieza's body disappeared in a flash of black light, as did the Egg Carrier. "I guess he must have been too. Why else salvage the body?"

Goku bent down and picked Sonic up, swinging him over his shoulder. "Vegeta, can you do me a favor and get Shadow. He took a hard hit over there" he said, pointing at the collapsed wall of the mountain.

Vegeta nodded. "Right." He flew towards the wreckage and started moving stones.

Sally walked up to Goku. "Sonic, is he…?"

"Yes, he's holding on" Goku said. "We couldn't hold back against him, so I was worried that it might of been too much, but he took it."

Sally let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear."

Goku nodded. "Here, grab my shoulder, I'll take us back to the others."

Sally reached up, placing her hand on Goku's shoulder as he requested. The two vanished, reappearing with the others, and setting Sonic down on the ground.

Silver and Gohan ran over. "How is he?" they asked simultaneously.

"He's holding on" Goku repeated. "He's going to need some sort of treatment, though, he took a bad beating from us. Even in his form, after his fight with Frieza, that couldn't have been good on his body."

Piccolo stepped forward. "I'll take him to Dende, then bring him home" he offered. "Dende will be wanting to know how things turned out anyways."

Whis stepped up. "You know, for such a climactic fight, that was over rather fast, wouldn't you agree?"

"Well, we were trying to end it fast so that neither of us accidentally destroyed the Earth again" Goku said.

"And that was incredible!" Beerus exclaimed. For the first time, Beerus looked, excited?

"What was?" Goku asked.

"The power of your fusion" he said. "That must be the power, the power of the one who is to be my arch rival! Vegito is my rival!"

"Wow, I never knew that you got so pumped up over a fight" Goku chuckled.

Beerus' expression solidified. "Right, I'm a God, I must remain composed." He cleared his throat. "The idea of being able to use my absolute power in a battle, it's been a while since I felt an emotion like that."

Vegeta flew up over the rim, supporting Shadow. "Here he is" Vegeta said, setting him down.

Piccolo stooped down and picked both hedgehogs up. "I'll take him to Dende as well, for a check up." Standing up with the two on his shoulders, he turned to Goku. "Will we meet you all at Capsule Corp?"

Goku nodded. "Yeah, we need to have a get together after this."

"Yeah" Bulma said.

"Alright, then I will head back there once Dende gives these two a healing" Piccolo said, taking off.

Goku watched Piccolo take off, then began to think. "Now, all of us have to get back as well. How should we go about that?"

"Don't worry, I've got this covered" Silver said.

"Huh, you do?" Gohan asked. "How?"

Silver raised his hand and strained his muscles. The white Super Emerald appeared and fell into his palm. "Shadow didn't get a chance to teach me much, but I've done Chaos Control before. I should be able to get us back with it."

"That's awesome, Silver" Goku complemented.

"Thanks, but I have to concentrate for this" Silver said. "I'm not as experienced."

"Oh, sorry" Goku said.

Silver closed his eyes and concentrated. Slowly, the Emerald began to emit a fierce light, growing until it had completely surrounded them. "Alright, Chaos Control!" he shouted.

The light flashed brighter than ever for a brief instant, overtaking everyone, before they all vanished, leaving the mountaintop clear. The entire valley, a pile of rubble from the fierce battle, no lied devoid of all life, as the battle had now ended.

Silver and the others made their way home, while Piccolo made to help the two biggest assets in the fight, that were surprisingly not Goku and Vegeta, to the Lookout, to help them recover.

And Frieza had escaped, barely with his life. Nazo had ensured they made it away with Frieza, keeping his life intact.

As the Z-Fighters touched down on the grassy lawn of the Capsule Corp, one thought raged through Goku's mind. "How, how was _his_ influence here?"

* * *

 **Yeah, I know, that was a quick update. However, as anyone who writes stories knows, when there is a part that you have been looking forward to writing for a long time, then you can't help but want to type like a madman and get it out for people to see. I hope that the writing wasn't rushed at all, and I'm sorry if it comes off like that.  
**

 **Anyways, that's a wrap on this arc. The Neo Resurrection 'F' Arc is officially complete. And you know, I think that it's time I took a more interactive approach with everyone reading this. So, here are a couple of things.**

 **\- For starters, we're going to have a little bit before the next chapter airs. Two frequent updates means that I should probably balance it out with a chapter for my other story, so that gives us a bit of a space for this next part.**

 **\- I'm deciding to host my first Q &A about my story. Until the next chapter is put up, you guys can feel free to ask me anything about the story. Send me a PM if you want to be anonymous (I won't tell) or leave it in review form, either way. As I'm trying to leave out as many spoilers as I can, I will post answers in the beginning of my next chapter, and some answers will be vague, some I won't answer to, and many I will do my best to answer. I'm trying to leave out blatant plot points, that's all.**

 **\- Many of you also know, or at least, have an inkling of what happened to Sonic in this chapter. Speculate all you want, but on a quick note, I will assure you, this is set up far in advance. Nothing will be done with that until _much_ further down the line.**

 **Anyways, this is the first major arc of my story complete. I sincerely hope that all of you enjoyed it, and please, drop a review telling me what you thought of how I integrated Sonic into Resurrection F. Other than that, as always, keep looking forward to the net chapter, and I will see you guys next time. Cya!**


	29. More Aftermath

**Alright, guys. As the questions came in, I kept piling them in here, so that I could answer everybody. I'm trying to avoid and exact specifics, but I'll let some things go on. Anyways, let's go.**

 **\- Someone asked me, "How far do I plan to take the story?" To answer this, here's what I have to say. I've already stated that I have 2 more arcs planned, 3 if favor starts to lean towards me crafting a God of Destruction's Tournament arc including the Sonic Team. However, that's for this story. Spoiler here, so ignore the rest of the paragraph if you don't want to glean it. I'm planning to extend this story into a trilogy. We're going across the Dragonball timeline here. This story will end the same way DBZ ended, with Goku leaving to train Uub. Afterwards, Sonic Team and the Z-Fighters are going to relive GT, with a twist. After that, well, that one, I'm keeping a surprise for now. But this much I'll say, it's going to go even further past GT, and it will be a great tale, and wrapping up the entire story within it.**

 **\- Jalen johnson asked me "if I'm still planning my own original arcs for the story" and if "Future Trunks will be returning." Yes, my next 2 arcs will be original. This coming one is, what I hope, will be a greatly recieved idea, something I doubt has ever been done before, and the results of which will allow for some changes to the rest of the story line, as well, as well as reuniting some 'old family.' We will also, obviously, have a true showdown, between everyone in the Sonic Team and Z-Fighters, and all of the villains, which ought to be an epic battle. I will also feature a character that hasn't returned in this series yet, an old arch-rival of Sonic, back and more powerful than ever. God of Destruction's Tournament after that if people want it, then the finale at the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament, with Goku doing his thing, and the others going off on a mission that comes up. As for Future Trunks, well, let me just say, not in the near future. I do plan for him to have a role, a major one, just, far down the line.**

 **\- HShadic123 asked me how long do I plan on writing the story. Well, depending on how you meant that, I have a couple of answers. If you mean timeframe, then I don't know. Probably spread over at least a couple of years. In terms of content, well, as above, I said that I plan to spread this over 3 stories, with this one _maybe, just maybe,_ halfway done. The story started off slowly, but it's going to speed up now. Less filler content from here on out.**

 **I actually got far fewer questions than I expected for this Q &A. I don't know whether people just weren't interested enough for questions, or if they missed the footnote announcing the Q&A. Just in case, I'll answer a few questions next chapter, since if the latter is true, then you'll probably see it this time, as it's up top and not on the bottom. Anyways, this is going to be the "transitional chapter" between Resurrection F and my next arc. Revelations and some set up included. You guys ready? I sure hope so. Let's begin!**

* * *

 **Kami's Lookout**

* * *

"Take good care of them, Dende, they battled their hearts out out there" Piccolo said, setting the two hedgehogs down.

"Right, Piccolo" Dende nodded, straightening them out on the ground. Holding his hands out in front of them, a soothing orange light began to emanate out, washing over the two of them. Slowly, each cut began to close, each bruise began to fade, and their tensed up bodies began to loosen up. Their breathing eased, and their heads rolled over, relaxed.

Piccolo nodded. "Thanks Dende."

Dende looked down at the two worriedly. "Usually, whenever I heal somebody, they wake up. What if they got here too late?"

"No, they're still breathing" Piccolo said. "I think you're just underestimating the magnitude of the battle they were just in. Were you watching?"

"For a while" Dende said. "I saw you guys get rid of some of the flagships. But you're real battle? Sorry, that was in Mobian territory, and my sights don't extend there, remember?"

"That's right, huh?" Piccolo asked. "Well, I ought to get these guys back to Capsule Corp. There's also something, that we have to discuss, once Sonic wakes up."

"Yeah, what about?" Dende asked.

Piccolo frowned. "That's the thing. We don't know exactly. And the two people who could explain it, well, their lying at your feet."

"Oh" Dende realized what Piccolo was saying. "And how are the others? Gohan, Goku, Vegeta, Sonic's friends?"

"We're, well, most of us, are all ok" Piccolo said. "Tails and Knuckles, they, didn't make it."

"Oh no!" Dende exclaimed. "That's terrible."

Piccolo nodded. "Yes, Frieza's cruelty knows no bounds."

"That's rough" Dende agreed. "I only met these guys a few times, but I could tell, those three were closer than most families."

Wrapping his arms around the two bodies, Piccolo swung them back over his shoulders. "Let me get these guys back. "You're welcome to come with, and here the full story."

"I think that I'll do that. Just let me go check with Mr. Popo and see if he can hold down the fort" Dende said.

* * *

 **Capsule Corp…**

* * *

"Those poor kids…" Chi-Chi muttered.

"If you ask me, Frieza didn't get a bad enough beating" Bulma said viciously. "Murdering those two in cold blood, that's just awful."

Trunks and Goten were in the corner, still rattled by their near death experience at Frieza's hands, but it wasn't them that were the talk of the room. Silver had laid the bodies of Tails and Knuckles out on the lawn, where they lied, perfectly still.

Gohan wiped the tears from his eyes. "They, they didn't deserve this."

Yamcha looked down at them as well. "Look on the bright side, you guys. It's better that they died with our worlds merged. We can use the Dragonballs to revive them, can't we?"

"That doesn't change how horrific it is" Tien muttered. "Considering Sonic hardly knew about the Dragonballs, much less that we could bring these two back, his reaction was rather weak, compared to what it could have been."

"Yeah, that is right" Yamcha said. "I remember how bad it was when Goku died fighting against Raditz."

Gohan looked up. "Speaking of which, where is Dad? For that matter, where's Vegeta and Silver? And I don't see Sally either."

Bulma looked down. "Silver took it really hard, Sally even harder. Those two were the only ones, besides Sonic and Shadow, of course, who really knew them. And they aren't taking it well. I didn't peg them as the drinking types."

"And I haven't seen Goku or Vegeta since we got back" Chi-Chi said. "Come to think of it, we haven't seen Lord Beerus or Whis either. Oh, you don't think that they went off training again, do you?"

"No, I can sense Goku and Vegeta both nearby" Krillin said. "They're on the roof, chatting I guess. Goku and Vegeta, they seemed to know something about what was going on, but they couldn't share."

"Hey, that's right" Gohan said. "Whis said, 'They have memories that they are lucky to keep, but they have to keep them to themselves.' What do you think that means?"

"Hell if I know" Tien said. "Goku and Vegeta have always been special. Do you really think that we have missing memories, but they were allowed to keep whatever we're missing?"

"Dunno" Gohan said. "But they aren't able to tell us if we do, so there's no way to find out."

* * *

 **Capsule Corp. Rooftop…**

* * *

"But come on, I watched him be burnt to bits myself" Goku insisted. "How can this be?"

"That, is actually beyond my knowledge" Whis admitted.

"But come on, how could his influence even be here?" Vegeta asked. "I know that time is fluid, but shouldn't all event that were changed have gone back to normal once he was destroyed?"

"You're right, time is fluid" Whis said. "However, I don't find it possible for his influence to be here."

Goku clutched his fist, the anger coursing through him enough to bring some blue sparks up his arm. Shaking them off, he turned to Whis. "Do you have any ideas at all?"

Whis struck a thinking pose. "We can never rule out his wormhole. It was wreaking havoc long after he was destroyed."

"Yeah, but if something was modifying the events that took place…" Goku began. "Shouldn't **Shiro** have shown up to help?"

"You're friend in high places?" Whis asked. "Yes, I find it quite odd that he didn't show up to help, but at the same time, maybe it was because we won anyways."

"Still, I taught the little Super Saiyan" Beerus said. "Even if we could win without him, it is unlike himself to not turn up where a distortion is happening."

"Isn't that true" Vegeta nodded. "Me and Kakarot mentored him a bit as well. Could something be going wrong there?"

"Well, if there is something, then we aren't going to be able to help" Goku said. "They're beyond all of our reach, up there."

"Quite so" Whis agreed. "I a place that is even inaccessible to me. I suppose that it is truly invitees only."

Goku sensed something and looked behind him. "Looks like Piccolo's back. Maybe we can get a first person recount from Sonic."

"Yes indeed. That was quite a fierce transformation he underwent, and I have no doubt that it was unhelped" Beerus stated.

Goku hopped off the roof. "Let's go meet them."

* * *

 **Capsule Corp. Lawn**

* * *

"So everyone made it back in one piece?" Piccolo asked. Dende touched down right beside him.

"Yeah" Goku said, descending. "How are those two."

Piccolo set them down. "More beat to hell than I've ever seen. They didn't even wake up once Dende healed them."

"Really? Dende saved me from a stomach piercing when he was just a kid" Vegeta said. "Although, it was baldy here who gave me the piercing, so maybe that explains it."

"HEY!" Krillin exclaimed vehemently.

"Settle down, bud" Goku said. "You know how Vegeta is, he's just poking fun at you, even if he won't admit it."

"Hmmph" Vegeta and Krillin both huffed.

Goku turned to Chi-Chi. "So, how are Sonic's other friends doing?"

She shook her head. "Not well, Goku. Drinking, actually."

"Drinking?" Goku asked. "Do they even have alcohol on Mobius?"

She shrugged. "But I can hardly blame the poor things" she said. "I remember how I felt both times you died, and these guys just lost two of their friends."

Goku clenched his jaw and tightened his fist. "Damn that Frieza and Nazo. If Instant Transmission were working right, I would find them and demolish them before they could react."

"Sadly, the joined worlds are probably going to make it so that you can never use long range Instant Transmission ever again" Vegeta said. "So I would just get used to not having it anymore."

A sudden grunt drew everyone's eyes down. Shadow was stirring. "Shadow?" Goku asked.

Shadow sat bolt upright, panting heavily, as if he had been holding his breath for a long time. "Where, what, who?!" he exclaimed.

"Calm down Shadow!" Goku waved his arms. "It's us!"

"Who, who are you?" Shadow asked. Then he closed his eyes. "I know you, just give me a second."

Bringing his arm out, Shadow gave himself a huge blow to the side of the head, literally knocking him up into the air for a second. Everyone looked at him, shocked, as he struggled to his feet, clutching his head.

Shaking his head, he looked at Goku. "Sorry about that. When you've had amnesia as many times as I've had, all it takes is a good smack to flip it back on or off. I must of hit my head pretty hard on those rocks."

"Well, I'm just glad that you're back with us" Goku said. "But, if all it takes is a good blow, then how come you don't lose your memory in combat."

"It either takes a massive impact, like falling to a planet or having a mountain collapse on me, or in just the right spot with the right amount of pressure" Shadow explained. "Luckily, amnesia only spreads to memories, and not skills. I can remember how to do that."

Shadow looked down at Sonic. Shaking his head, he bent down near him. "I know he wasn't in control, but I still plan to give him some grief about what he did to me."

"...He may have enough grief as it is" Goku pointed out.

Shadow's expression dropped. "Fair point…" he muttered.

Vegeta stood by Shadow. "We can revive your friends with the Dragonballs, they have that power. Since our worlds were fused, they should be within our power."

"Best news I've heard all day" Shadow said. "Sonic should be ecstatic when he wakes up."

Vegeta crossed his arms. "Yes, what was that power that your blue friend showed?"

Shadow frowned. "His Dark Form…" he muttered.

"Dark Form?" Chi-Chi asked. "Is that like his Super Form?"

"More different than you could possibly believe" Shadow chuckled. "Each time Sonic's used that form, he's gotten more out of control. First against the Metarex, then against Nazo, and now against Frieza."

"But what exactly is is?" Vegeta asked.

"Think of it like his Super Form, except instead of with balanced Chaos Energy, or, as we have had to resort to recently, purely light Chaos Energy, he only used the dark" Shadow explained. "His inhibitors goes down, and he goes instinctual, his instincts, or course, focused completely on destroying the one who pushed him to going dark. Of course, when you aren't thinking intelligently, anything that gets in your way is an enemy, part of what makes it so dangerous to try and snap him out of it."

"...Wow, sounds like that transformation you endured during your fight with Lord Slug" Piccolo said to Goku.

"Ehyeh, I mean, come on, that was a one time thing, it couldn't happen to me again" Goku exclaimed.

"Oh yes, I remember the tale, of that False Super Saiyan you told me about, Kakarot" Vegeta said. "So, it was real after all, and comparable to this one's Dark Form?"

Goku nodded. "Almost exactly the same, except Sonic took it to an extreme. More power, less control."

"Yeah" Shadow said. "That's what happens when the darkness overwhelms you."

"Darkness…" a voice beneath them said.

Everyone looked down, startled, to see Sonic conscious. "Sonic?" Shadow asked.

"Where-?" Sonic began to ask, before it all came back to him. In an instant, Sonic was up and had jumped high, landing far from the others, up on the rooftop.

"Sonic, what's wrong?" Goku asked.

Sonic stuck his hands out. "No, stay back, I'm not safe!" he cried out.

"Sonic, listen, don't wor-" Goku tried to say, but Sonic cut him off.

"No, I'm dangerous, I can't stay!" Sonic yelled, turning on the spot and vanishing in a flash of light.

Everyone was wide eyed. Shadow wasted no time in jumping up after him, and vanishing in the same spot. Second later, he reappeared, alone.

"Where'd he go?" Goku asked.

"He threw me off the trail" Shadow muttered. "I don't know when, but he got good enough that he was able to use Chaos Control towards a certain destination, but then change course during the warp. The trail leads to a dead end."

Vegeta looked down at Shadow. "How did he even use Chaos Control without an Emerald?" he asked.

Shadow shrugged. "It's kind of funny. Chaos Control used to be a huge deal for us back in the day, and now it's something that we use almost without thinking. Basically, we've used the Emeralds so much over the years, our bodies always have some. They basically learned how to produce it. That's how we can go Super without Emeralds."

"Damn, so we lost the rat" Vegeta spat.

"Don't be so hard on him, Vegeta" Goku said harshly. "After what he went through, he must feel terrible. You know Sonic. He's not the kind of person who would do a fraction of what he did, even to a tyrant like Frieza."

"Hrm" Vegeta growled, but said no more.

Goku looked at the spot where Sonic had vanished. "But where did he go?" he wondered.

* * *

 **?**

* * *

Sonic touched down, and hit the ground running. "I can't believe, that I did that."

He sobbed as he ran. "I promised Tails, last time, that I would never go Dark again. And what do I do? As soon as he's gone, I do it again. What kind of friend am I?"

Sonic burst through the trees and fell to the ground, on all fours. "Their gone, both gone, Tails and Knuckles…" he cried.

Looking at his own hand, he punched the ground. "I just wish that I didn't have this, this, DAMN DARKNESS INSIDE OF ME!"

Sonic screamed the last part, causing the birds in the trees to scatter off in fear. Sonic fell back to all fours, sobbing, when he heard the voice. "Your wish, is my, command."

Wheeling around, Sonic gasped and got into fighting stance when he saw the nightmarish red figure before. "What, the hell, do you want?" Sonic growled venomously at Nazo.

"Only to help" Nazo said, stepping forward, causing Sonic to back up. "You said you want to be rid of the darkness, right?"

Sonic backed up a bit more, and his fur began to glow. Bursting into Super Form, the tears rolling down his cheeks now sparkled from his light. "Knowing you, it wouldn't benefit me to do whatever you have planned."

Chuckling darkly, Nazo stared right into Sonic's eyes. "You don't know how right you are" he said.

Moving at impossible speed, Nazo darted forward and grabbed Sonic by the neck. Choking, Sonic looked down at Nazo. "Do, it, reunite me, with my friends."

"Oh, I don't plan to kill you" Nazo shook his head. "Merely, rid you of the darkness."

The 7 Dark Emeralds materialized in the air around them. "And of course, I plan to do it the same way, that we removed the darkness from the Master Emerald" Nazo said.

Sonic's eyes grew wide. "No, you wouldn't!" he gasped.

"Yes, I, Would" Nazo said.

Each Emerald sparked with dark energy, and bolts of darkness leapt out from each Emerald, striking Sonic, shocking him. "AAGGHH!" Super Sonic cried in pain, reverting.

Slowly, the Emeralds ascended in the air, and as they rose higher, they began pulling something out of Sonic, up with them. Sonic was black and blue, but no in the classic way. There were two Sonics now, a pitch black one being pulled out of the real one.

The Emeralds let out one last huge spark, and both of them collapsed to the ground. Each of the Dark Emeralds vanished in a flash of dark light. Nazo stepped forward and picked up what looked like a shadowy silhouette of Sonic. "Thank you, for your cooperation" Nazo cackled.

"No, STOP!" Sonic shouted, stretching his arms for Nazo. However, Nazo was gone before he had fully extended his arm, and he had taken Dark Sonic with him.

Feeling completely drained, Sonic collapsed to the ground. "What, have I done?" he muttered, before he passed out.

* * *

 **Neo-Eggmanland…**

* * *

"Well done, you have truly outdone yourself this time, Nazo" Eggman praised.

"Thank you, Doctor" Nazo said. "I suppose that we have gained a powerful ally today."

"Indeed we have" Eggman said. "Now, Sonic shouldn't be able to stand a chance."

"Only one problem, Doctor" Nazo said. "The Dark Sonic I acquired doesn't move. A body with no mind is what I received."

"Trivialities" Eggman dismissed. "Perhaps I can upgrade the body, like I did to that time creature. Then, not only would he be cybernetically enhanced, but also, completely under my control."

"Very well" Nazo said. "I will check on the tyrant. He will be in the regeneration room, correct?"

"Yes" Eggman said.

Nodding, Nazo disappeared in a flash of dark light, one moment, looking at the doctor, the next, staring at the shredded face of Frieza. "So, that hedgehog pulled out a stop that even _I_ didn't know existed" he commented.

Frieza merely glared at him. "I must say, you were doing a terrific job out there, and you would have been perfect, if he hadn't gone Dark. I've fixed that, of course, but we still need a new plan of attack to get them back."

"Give me some credit" Frieza said, his voice distorted through the liquid and the pipe. "Do you not think that I already have a great idea for a new plan?"

"Oh, do you?" Nazo asked.

"Hmmph" Frieza grunted. "I have concocted a brilliant scheme. You see, my training has made me open my eyes to new possibilities, different courses of action that would disgust me in the past, but intrigue me now."

"Oh, and what if you plan?" Nazo asked.

Frieza was obviously smirking behind the mask. "Simple. A major deciding factor in their victory this time, was the fact that we had planned on the army wearing them down. However, the army was too weak to substantially weaken them. How do we fix this? Get a stronger army."

"I'm not sure I follow" Nazo said.

Frieza stared him dead in the eyes. "Once I'm out of here, it will be time to hunt down this pathetic planet's Dragonballs. I plan to summon up our army."

"I wasn't aware that the Dragonballs could create powerful beings" Nazo said.

"Oh, they can't" Frieza said. "But they can revive them. And restore planets. And we will need to do both."

"Hmm, what exactly do you mean?" Nazo asked.

"You will see, you will all soon see" Frieza said.

* * *

 **? (Much later)**

* * *

In the outer reaches of a planet's atmosphere, a single being stood. Among the starlight and dark void, he was the only living being in sight.

Looking around in shock, the man couldn't believe the sight. "How, this seems impossible. It's back. _I'm_ back. This shouldn't be."

The man looked down at the planet below him with a sharp glint in his eyes. "But there's no doubt about it. Somehow, it's all been restored. But what could this mean? All of that, it was no dream."

Reaching up to his forehead, he felt it, and found a headband wrapped around his head. His fingers came away, stained with blood. Raising his arms, he descended at high speed to the planet below.

"Whatever is going on, whatever this means, I must know more" he thought. "Even after all that, it's still here? No, something bigger, _much_ bigger, is going on here. And I must get to the bottom of this."

* * *

 **Yes, okay. This chapter was short. Like I said, it was a transitional chapter. And yes, this ending was extremely vague. In my other story, several people guess exactly who a mystery figure was just by hair color and style. I wanted to drop a hint, but make it subtle to make it so that you had to work to guess it. Anyways, don't forget, I always appreciate reviews, and in case people missed it, the Q &A will still be open until next chapter. Good luck guessing what this next arc will be, because things are about to get heated!**


	30. Saiyans Reborn

**WOOT! Alright guys, 30th chapter, and time to start out a new arc in the series. We will have a timeskip in this chapter, as you can see right off the bat. Also, I've seen the light. In this story, I haven't focused much on plot, rather, just on good fights. Well, from here on out, I'm going to try to add in more story to this story, to balance out the fights. I just finished Sonic X, and got a whole bunch of insight into that, so I think that I'm about to improve the quality of my stories once more. I actually now have a whole new respect for Tails in particular, and feel ashamed that he's been dealt such a minor role so far. Well that s*** ain't gonna stand. All jokes aside, I'm going to try to balance roles out again.**

 **Also, I want to thank everyone that's been here since the beginning. As this was my first story, it was, well, my 'grindstone.' The object I put dull blades on to sharpen them. In the beginning, my writing skills were poor, my chapters short, and the plot, just forced. People who dealt with my poor beginnings and still, to this day, are reading, I just have to say, thank you.**

 **But all that aside, let's go. Trust me, I think you guys the arc that I've come up with. Don't believe me? Then let's get moving so that I can show you!**

* * *

 **2 Weeks Later…**

* * *

"Still no sign of him?"

"None" Shadow said. "It's almost as if Sonic's disappeared off of the face of the planet."

"Could something have gone wrong with his Chaos Control?" Goku asked. "He just got out of an intense experience with Chaos."

"No, he wouldn't have goofed there" Shadow said. "We only use Chaos Control if at least one of these conditions are met. We're absolutely sure we can pull it off without any lashback, or it's the only way to stop a calamity."

"Only way to stop a calamity?" Goku asked.

"Twice, I used Chaos Control on a massive scale" Shadow said. "Each time left me near dead. Of course, we've all gotten better with Chaos Control since then."

"So where could he have gone off to?" Goku asked.

"Who knows?" Shadow shrugged. "That wasn't a normal reaction for Sonic, so I have no idea how he may have reacted since he vanished."

It had been two weeks since Frieza's invasion was stopped. Sonic, guilt ridden over how out of control he had become and emotionally destroyed by the death of his two closest friends, had vanished, unwilling to face anyone. Since then, however, he had not returned. Sally, Silver, Shadow, Goku, Goten, and Trunks had all be scouring the planet, searching for him, but coming up empty.

"Damn, if only I could still sense powers clearly" Goku swore. "I used to be able to pick out every single living creature on this planet until our worlds clashed together. Now, the energy of the planet seems to be working against us."

Shadow closed his eyes and thought. "Of course, why didn't I think about it before?" he asked.

"Huh, what's that?" Goku asked.

"Your _ki_ sense may be disabled, but my Chaos Sense is working as good as ever" Shadow realized. "It will be difficult, but maybe I could locate Sonic by his body's self-producing Chaos energy."

"Really?" Goku asked.

"Maybe" Shadow admitted. "The amount of Chaos that Sonic generates is much weaker than even my Chaos Shard, even though it is potent enough for him to go Super off of. That's only because since his body makes it, it can use it more effectively."

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" Goku asked. "I'll be trying to do something myself while you do that."

"Still trying to make it?" Shadow asked.

The temporary energy that Goku had felt dissipated as Shadow nailed him. "Yeah, that. I could bear not being able to sense the energy of the creatures on this planet if it didn't mean that it blocked me from sensing outside as well."

"So you can't check on them…" Shadow sighed.

Goku gritted his teeth. "No, I can't. I can't even hone in on a single entity in Otherworld that might allow me to reach there. It's more important now than ever that I find a way to communicate with them."

"You mean, since someone used the Dragonballs" Shadow said.

"Yeah, that's it" Goku said. "I don't know who used them, but they delayed us bringing Tails and Knuckles back by several months by doing it. Let along restoring all the people obliterated in the destruction of North City."

"I'm sure that they'll be okay, Goku" Shadow said. "At the very worst, they have to spend a year in the Otherworld before they can make it back."

"Yeah... Any luck sensing him?" Goku asked.

"What? Oh, not yet" Shadow said. He began sensing for Chaos Energy.

Shadow's senses passed over a cold patch. "That must be where the Doctor is storing the Dark Emeralds. Good info to have, but not where Sonic is."

Soon, Shadow felt his senses loop. Coming out of his state, he shook his head. "Not a sign of Sonic, anywhere."

"Damn" Goku swore again. "And we don't have any idea about where he is at all."

"None" Shadow said. "For all we know, one of them could have hunted him down after he left." Shadow didn't know how close he was.

* * *

 **?**

* * *

"Just, have, to, keep, moving…" he huffed.

Sonic collapsed alongside of a stream. Rolling over to take a drink, he felt lucky that he had found it, even though he had no idea where he was. He remembered that Tails had once told him, someone can survive 3x longer on water without food than the other way around.

Thinking about Tails struck a nerve in Sonic's heart. The pain of losing two of his closest friends wasn't sitting well with him. Knuckles was, well, a knucklehead, who he didn't always get along with, but they were good friends. Tails, however, was a whole other level of loss. He and his pal had become closer than family. While Knuckles would be missed, he was barely holding off the mourning for Tails until he was sure he could survive.

He thought back to just after their first fight with Nazo.

* * *

 **Flashback…**

* * *

" _Sonic, Knuckles told me what happened" Tails had said._

 _Sonic looked over his shoulder. "About what?" he asked. "We defeated Nazo, not much else went on there."_

 _Tails shook his head. "Sonic, Knuckles saw you. He saw you lose control again."_

 _Sonic's face sunk. "Oh, that. It gave us the time we needed to reclaim the Emeralds and go Super, didn't it?"_

" _Yeah, but Sonic…" Tails said, looking at him seriously. "You know that that transformation is not good, at all."_

" _Trust me buddy, I don't like it any more than you do" Sonic admitted. "It's powerful, but I don't like what I become in it."_

" _Then do me a favor, Sonic" Tails said. "Control yourself enough, so that you never go Dark again. Do it not for me, but for you."_

 _Sonic considered this for a moment, then nodded. "I'll do my best." "...But there's also a reason for you, isn't there?"_

" _..." Tails was silent._

 _Sonic looked at the sky. "No need to say, bud. I understand. That form, it carries some memories. Not just for me. It reminds you of a time you spend enough time in already."_

* * *

 **End Flashback…**

* * *

"But I broke that promise, Tails" Sonic muttered. "I told you that I'd never do it again, but the second you're no longer with us, what do I do?"

"...Exactly" he sighed. "Some friend I am. Besides that, what's the point of being the fastest thing alive if I can't move fast enough to pull you guys out of the way?"

"I sound like a belong in the looney bin, don't I?" Sonic chuckled. "There's no one here. I'm talking to a river."

Struggling back to his feet, Sonic kept stumbling down the path. "Another thing," he grunted, "how am I supposed to be the fastest thing alive if I have to walk like some arthritic old man? Hrk, minus the cane."

Sonic's body was still sore from Nazo's sneak attack. A part of him, the part that was guilt about him breaking his promise to Tails, was glad that Nazo had removed his inner darkness. That meant that he would never be able to go Dark again. But, another part of him, realized that without the Dark form, even more of his friends would have died during that battle.

It was like he had been watching it on the T.V. He could remember it, but it was like he wasn't there, just viewing it. His mind had gone blank, shoving his intellect to the back. And that part in the back, while horrified by what his body was doing to the being in front of him, at the same time, felt a sinister pleasure in every drop of blood that had spilled from Frieza's carcass.

Shaking the feelings, he realized that he was delving back into those same emotions. Just because the darkness was out, didn't mean that he didn't enjoy doing that to Frieza for what he had done to Knuckles and Tails, his best friends, even if it was only to an extent.

"But, can I even call them my best friends anymore?" he wondered.

Sure, he protected them, and the hung out sometimes, but Sonic, he still hadn't grown up. He spent almost all of his time exploring, even if recently, it had been for a good reason. He left without notice, kind of like how he had just done, and didn't come back until it was mandatory.

With a chill, Sonic realized that he hadn't even considered any of his other friends, ever since the two worlds joined together. He hadn't once seen Amy, or Cream, or anyone. He said that he'd try to find the Chaotix to help deal with the invasion, but he had come up short on them too. Where their base had once been, it was just a piece of Goku's world now.

"What if our worlds didn't fully join?" he wondered. Thinking back, he had missed a lot of locations from his own world. His house, for example, was the only one he had found that had been on Mobius before Chaos Control went wrong. The entire rest of the town was gone. Tails had searched frantically for his place, coming up empty. And Sonic had gone to hang out at the old local, the Green Hill Zone, and instead found Goku's home at Mt. Paozu.

"What if, there are still parts of Mobius that didn't come over?" Sonic wondered. "What if everyone has been worrying about the four of us ever since it happened?"

He remembered that when Chris found Mobius, it had only taken him 6 months to get there, but for him, it had been over half a decade. He only hoped that the same sort of time compression happened this time, so that they weren't gone for too hugely long, if they ever found a way back.

Sonic's legs gave out under him again, and he collapsed. Sure, he could go for a lot longer on water than food, but we was becoming malnourished. If he didn't get back soon…

Sonic rolled over. At least, if he had to die, it could be out in nature, and not in one of Eggman's cells. And the timing was good, he could apologize to Tails…

His hand flopped down beside him, and he immediately regretted it. Striking something hard, Sonic felt an excruciating pain, causing him to shout out a string of words, best left to the imagination.

Looking beside him, Sonic noticed that there was something in the dirt, buried deep, but just below the surface. Scraping the terrain aside, Sonic gasped at his find.

Lying in the hole he had dug, there was a large, pointed, purple gemstone. If he didn't know better, he'd say that it looked like a Master Emerald shard, except, the Master Emerald was whole, and green.

Realizing something, he gasped. "Shadow found something like this too!"

Shadow, back at the beginning of their adventure in the combined worlds, had come across a small object, a red crystal containing a limited amount of Chaos Energy, which he dubbed, a Chaos Shard.

Now it would appear that Sonic had found another one of a different color. "I wonder…" he said, reaching for the shard.

Picking it up, it glowed faintly in his hands. "I, I can feel Chaos Energy inside of here" he realized.

Pushing himself to his feet, Sonic weighed it in his hands. "Like Shadow said, not much, but enough. Enough for Chaos Control."

Raising the Shard above his head, Sonic prepared for Chaos Control. However, he faltered. "What if, they hold me to not finishing off Frieza? Someone, I didn't recognize them, had interfered. But, then, it shouldn't be on me, I hope."

For real this time, Sonic raised it high above his head. The crystal began glowing brightly in his hands, until the light flashed and spread over him, teleporting him away in a flurry of Chaos Energy.

* * *

 **Capsule Corp…**

* * *

"Damn" Goku swore. "And we don't have any idea about where he is at all."

"None" Shadow said. "For all we know, one of them could have hunted him down after he left."

Suddenly, a bright light bathed the entire yard. Both Goku and Shadow jumped back, instinctively getting into fighting stand and going Super (Saiyan).

The light faded, however, to reveal one blue hedgehog in the yard. "Sonic!" the two shouted simultaneously.

Sonic wobbled unsteadily for a moment, before falling face first into the grass. The two dashed forward and grabbed sonic, helping him up.

Sonic coughed. "Hey, what have I missed?" he asked.

Shadow smirked, and Goku chuckled. "Let's get you inside, Sonic, you don't look too well" Goku said.

"Are you sure?" Sonic asked. "The last time I was inside of there, Nazo attacked and blew up half of the living room."

"I think that we're safe this time, Sonic" Shadow said. "When the alpha retreats, the entire pack follows. And Frieza will be licking his wounds for a long time to come."

"Glad to hear it" Sonic said, coughing.

Shadow looked at Sonic. "Something's, off about you" he noted.

Goku flew up, carrying Sonic to the patio outside of the living room. Inside, not many people were there, but Chi-Chi, Gohan, and Bulma were all talking. Looking over, they were shocked to see that Goku had Sonic.

Shadow jumped up behind him, and they all came into the room. "Sonic, what happened to you?" Gohan exclaimed.

"Heh, I guess I must look as beat up as I feel" Sonic chuckled.

"You've been gone for a fortnight" Bulma said. "Just where were you?"

"Give me a second to breath, and I'll explain" Sonic said.

Goku began to notice, after Gohan's comment, how Sonic looked. His eyes were baggy and dull, he was obviously sore by the way he moved, and very tired. He was also very weak from the looks of it.

Goku looked at Chi-Chi. "Hey, Chi-Chi, I know this isn't the type of request I would normally make, but can you make Sonic something to eat? He's looking a little sick."

Chi-Chi looked at Sonic for a moment, then nodded. "Sure thing. I know just the thing for a recovering body. My miso soup!"

She went into the kitchen and began making Sonic something to help him recover. Goku leaned down and studied Sonic. "What happened to you, Sonic? You should have been perfectly fine once Dende healed you, and now you come back in this condition."

Sonic looked down. "I had, well, an encounter. It didn't go over well."

"With who?" Shadow asked.

Sonic looked Shadow in the eye. "Nazo" he said.

"Nazo!" Shadow exclaimed. "How did you get away?"

"Luckily, he wasn't there for my life" Sonic said. "But he did do something, something I'm not too sure how to feel about."

"What was that?" Goku asked.

Sonic let out a sigh. "My Darkness."

"Your Darkness?" Gohan asked. "So you're saying, that Nazo…"

"Did exactly what Eggman did to the Master Emerald to me, yeah" Sonic finished. "Eggman now has a new toy to play with. Dark Sonic."

Shadow stared at Sonic, and Goku and the rest gasped. Shadow looked at the rest of them. "It isn't that bad" he said. "Nazo may have taken Sonic's Dark Form from him, but that's all he took. It should be unanimated, just a body."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, but Shadow wasn't done. "Of course, it could be used as an energy source, or, knowing Eggman, he'll find a way to make it work anyhow."

Goku looked at Shadow. "You keep talking about Eggman like he's super smart, but I haven't seen much of him this entire time. Are you sure that he's the one calling the shots?"

Shadow looked at the floor. "To be honest, no. Eggman was always a crazy one, but he would never resort to actually killing Sonic. To be fair, he has certain morals, ones that none of the others have. I'd have to say, it's probably either Nazo or Frieza in charge. Those two are the only ones that have a grudge against me and Sonic specifically."

Goku crossed his arms. "So, Eggman's playing hostage? He's not innocent enough for that."

Shadow shook his head. "No, more than likely, he disagrees with them wanting to kill Sonic, but won't say anything against it. He wants to keep his nemesis around, but doesn't want to sacrifice himself to do it. I have a feeling Frieza isn't too lenient with people who are against him. Of course, Eggman's let Sonic face the music a few times, so he may just be in a mood of not caring if Sonic is still around if his alliance with those creeps can get him his empire."

Chi-Chi came out of the kitchen with a steaming bowl of broth. "Here Sonic, drink this" she said, pushing the bowl into his hands.

"Thanks" Sonic said gratefully. Taking a sip, the taste was a bit odd to him, but he was thankful for something that he could actually feel warming him on the inside.

Goku looked at Sonic. "So what happened after Nazo took your darkness?"

"He basically left me hanging" Sonic said. "The separation left me weak, and since my darkness is mostly made of Chaos Energy, it took a lot of that with him as well, so I was left stranded. I was too weak to run or use my aerokinesis, and too drained of Chaos to go Super or use Chaos Control."

"But you just arrived using Chaos Control" Shadow pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't do it, but you'll never believe what I found" Sonic said.

Setting the broth down, Sonic held his hand out. A faint spark happened, and a purple gem dropped into Sonic's hand.

Shadow started. "Another Chaos Shard?!"

Sonic nodded. "I found it just now, and it was my saving grace. I'm not sure I would have made it out of whatever forest I was in if I hadn't found it."

Shadow began thinking. "It seems unbelievable that a Chaos Shard existed. I have no idea about their origin. But now we find another. And where there's another, who knows how many more there could be?"

Sonic nodded. "And that's pretty much all that's happened to me since then" he said. He picked up his broth again and took another sip.

Little did he know, he was no longer being scrutinized by the battle-trained eyes of Goku and Shadow, but rather, the mothering, knowing eyes of Chi-Chi and Bulma, and they could tell, now that Sonic had said his part, he was trying to stay out of it.

"Is that all you want to talk about Sonic?" Bulma asked.

"Hmm?" Sonic asked.

"You sure that you don't have anything else that you want to get off of your chest?" Chi-Chi asked.

With a shock, Sonic realized what they were getting at. A part of him groaned inwardly. He may have been only 16, but he probably had to grow up faster than anyone in this room did. Goku had lived on his own, but everything was like a game to him, because he was so strong. But because he was just a teenager, and an orphaned one at that, they were going full mother on him, something he found annoying.

But, at the same time, their tones stirred something in Sonic. He had confronted himself about Tails and Knuckles in the past weeks, but only in small bits. These two were reaching out to him, allowing him to spill his entire feelings, about his friends, who were now gone, gone from this world…

Never really having had a mother, or a parent, Sonic wasn't sure how to handle it. Part of him wanted to push things down and keep acting cool, like he always had. But another part wanted to give in, and be a normal kid, and let it all out to someone who was there trying to comfort him.

Feeling the emotions of his friends being too close to the surface, Sonic felt it coming out. "I-"

 **BOOOOOOOOOOOOM**

The entire foundation of the house shook as a tremor, largest one he had ever felt, passed through the ground. Sonic was knocked off of the couch, and Shadow and Goku fell to their knees, barely catching themselves. Outside of the window, a huge plume of smoke rose into the air.

"No, they haven't even recovered from the last attack yet!" Goku roared. His hair flared blue, and he was out of the window before anyone else could react.

Sonic got up to chase after him, but his legs gave way underneath him again. Smacking against the floor, Sonic felt rage at the fact that he was so helpless right now. "Why do I have to be so weak?" he muttered.

Shadow glanced down at Sonic. "You just single-handedly fended off a tyrant of universal proportions a week ago. You're no weakling, Sonic, but even the greatest heroes need rest."

"Stupid, I hate logic and reason" Sonic complained.

Shadow smirked. "We all do, Sonic, we all do."

* * *

 **West City…**

* * *

Within moments, Goku had launched himself straight from Capsule Corp all the way into the center of West City Debris was still falling from the air, and a huge crater had appeared in the ground.

Goku wheeled around. "Show your face, whoever you are!" he shouted.

"Oh, it would appear we have a hero on our hands!" a snarky voice came from above him.

"We aren't a fan of heroes, especially when they get in our way" a brutish voice came as well.

Goku turned around. As the smoke cleared, two figures descended right in front of him. Goku gave them a hard stare, but as the smoke cleared, he became more shocked than angry. "What, how?" he wondered.

"How what?" the one with the snarky voice asked.

Both of the enemies in front of him looked human, but had something different to them. Behind each of them, a thin, brown tail was wrapped around them. Both of them had a scouter donned on their forehead, and wore a set of armor, extremely similar to the armor Vegeta wore when he first arrived on the planet.

"You, you're, Saiyans!" SSB Goku exclaimed.

"Oh, an earthling recognizes a Saiyan?" the brutish voiced one asked. "I see, our reputation precedes us, even after all of this time."

"Tell you what, my bluenette friend" the snarky one asked. "A weakling like you doesn't even have enough power to register on the scouter. Maybe if you beg, we'll offer you a quick and painless death."

Goku gritted his teeth. "I don't know how they got here, but Vegeta told me that the Saiyans were once locked in the Planet Trade. If there are Saiyans here, they must be here to take over the Earth. I can't let them do that."

Goku also was confused by how the Saiyan could call him a weakling. Then he realized. "God ki isn't detectable by non-gods. He thinks my power level is low enough to not even register. I'll use that to take them out before they can do any more damage."

"What, you not going to beg?" snarky asked.

"Perhaps we should end you now?" brutish asked, raising his hand and gathering an orb of energy in it.

"Hmmph, you wish" SSB Goku said. Faster than lightning, he outstretched his hand, and sent out a _kiai_ blast. The two Saiyans didn't even see it coming. It struck, and they were knocked sky high.

Goku followed them. The two stared at him in shock. "How, how did you-?" snarky asked.

"What, I thought 'a weakling like myself' was well within the power of two Saiyans to defeat" SSB Goku said. "Oh, that's right, isn't it?"

"What, what's right?" brutish asked.

"Well, you probably can't tell, because I don't have a tail," SSB Goku said, "but I'm a Saiyan too."

"What, a Saiyan, here?" snarky asked.

"But, that's impossible" brutish said. "Hey, you're not even a Saiyan, are you? Sorry to break it to you, bud, but Saiyans have black hair."

"Oh, you mean, like this?" SSB Goku asked, dropping to base form.

As soon as his hair fell, the two scouters on the Saiyan's faces shattered. The two staggered backwards in fear as Goku floated towards them.

"Now, listen here" Goku said forcibly. "I don't like killing, so if you two flee back to wherever you came from, and never both coming back here again, I'll leave it at that. But if you ever come back, you won't live to regret it!"

"Uh, right!" brutish shrieked, scampering through the air.

"Sorry, we'll just be leaving now" snarky said, chasing after his companion.

Watching them flee, Goku chuckled. "I guess not all Saiyans were as prideful as Vegeta, to value their pride over their skin."

Moments later, two pods shot off in the distance. They were a different model, but similar to the one Vegeta had used, coming to Earth. He watched as they took off into the sky and vanished from sight.

Looking below, Goku breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that, from the looks of things, nobody was crater looked impressive, but the Saiyans were probably using it as a warning shot more than anything.

With nothing else he could do, Goku floated back to Capsule Corporation. Once inside, he found that they were two people short. "Where are Sonic and Shadow?" he asked.

Bulma and Chi-Chi shared a looked. "Goku, do you think it was too soon to try and get Sonic to talk about Tails and Knuckles?"

Goku let out a sigh. "Chi-Chi, let me tell you, when someone's death pushes you to that point, even if you avenge them, it takes a long time to recover" he said. "When Frieza killed Krillin, I may have defeated Frieza in turn, but do you think that I was just completely ok from the moment I left Namek? I wasn't. It took took me over a month before I was calm again, because at the time, I didn't know that the Namekian Dragonballs had gone with Gohan and the others."

"I see" Chi-Chi said, looking ashamed. "So I probably pushed him too hard from the start."

"Depending on your approach, yeah" Goku said.

"I was so sure that I was trying to help him" Chi-Chi said. "I mean, he's helped you and everyone out so many times, and he's not even Gohan's age. He's not even an adult yet. I feel like, he just needs a little push, since he didn't have a parent growing up…"

Goku closed his eyes. He couldn't feel either Sonic or Shadow in the area, so he figured that they had left. Probably to Sonic's house, or Knothole.

"Chi-Chi, I know that you're trying to help, but the feeling of someone trying to be the mother you never had isn't a great thing" Goku said. "There were people who babied me because I was young, and I resented it, because having not even a guardian for most of my childhood forced me to be independant. Sonic had it even rougher than me. He was fighting for his planet's freedom since he was, I think he said since he was 6. If Sonic wants to talk, he'll talk, but I wouldn't push him."

* * *

 **Knothole…**

* * *

"Even for you, Sonic, this is unhealthy" Shadow commented.

"..." Sonic didn't respond.

Inside of his room in Knothole, Sonic simply layed on his bed, staring at the ceiling, not acknowledging the world around him.

Shadow sighed. "You know, Goku said that the Dragonballs could bring someone back to life" he offered.

"...And that they take a year to recharge after they're used" Sonic muttered.

"How did you know that they got used?" Shadow asked.

"Goku described the signs pretty well" Sonic said. "Sudden dark, lightning filled sky means that the Dragon was summoned. Even as weak as I was out there, I could recognize when in the middle of the day, things went black, only to clear up seconds later."

"I see…" Shadow said. "And you're worried about them waiting another year?"

"Knuckles, I'm sure he can handle himself" Sonic said. "Tails, on the other hand, I'm worried about."

"Come on, it's not like he;s done anything hell-worthy" Shadow said.

"Who said I'm worried about where he goes?" Sonic asked. "No, I'm worried about what he'll do."

"What could he do up there that's so problem presenting?" Shadow asked.

Sonic let out a sigh. "Tails, he's smart. He's opportunistic. He won't just set around twiddling his thumbs until the year is up. He's going to be searching, trying to find…"

Sonic didn't finish, but Shadow knew what he meant. "Oh…" he realized.

"On one hand, nothing would make Tails more happy than if he succeeded" Sonic said. "But, if he does succeed, then he wouldn't want to come back. On the other hand, just searching is going to get his hopes up. If he doesn't then, then he'll be crushed."

"And that's why you wanted him back to life as soon as possible?" Shadow said.

Sonic shot Shadow a glare. "Yes, that's the only reason. It couldn't have to do with the fact that he's my best friend or anything."

"Chill, Sonic" Shadow said, feeling odd saying the phrase in the blue hedgehog's place. "I'm not the enemy here. You should be thanking me. You know the emotional stuff isn't my strong suit."

"Well, Dr. Shadow, what should I do next?" Sonic asked sarcastically.

Shadow's gaze hardened. Standing up, he looked down at Sonic. "If you want to wallow in misery and take it out on those trying to help you, be my guest. Just don't bother coming back to the rest of us and making us take it. Shape up or ship out."

And with that, he was gone, Chaos Controlled away. Sonic rolled over on his side and stared at the wall. He was tired, tired of so much. Tired of never getting a normal day in life, each day being taken up by some adventure or battle. Tired of loss. His brother and sister, his best friends, and the one that could cause his very best friend to be gone for good. Tired of, well, being conscious. His body, he was physically exhausted from the trek from Nazo to home.

He felt his mind slipping, his eyes shutting, and his mind going blank. His arm flopped down by his side once more, no hard rock to strike on this time. The heat in the air made him more drowsy, and he knew that he couldn't resist. Sonic passed out.

* * *

 **?**

* * *

"Sir, you have, a request. Someone wishes to speak with you."

"And who exactly is it?"

"He's a low level soldier, sir. He says he has an urgent matter that he needs to discuss with you."

"A low level? Fine, this should only be but a moment."

The hall doors opened, and through the ranks of guards, strode forward, a single man. Battle-scarred, donned in broken armor, and with a blood-soaked headband hanging around his forehead.

On the throne, King Vegeta looked at this oncoming arrival. "Oh, I remember you now. You're Bardock, aren't you? The leader of our best low level battalion."

"It used to be" Bardock said. "Frieza made sure that I was the only one left, and then he tried to kill us all as well."

"I remember death" King Vegeta noted. "However, it was as if death were a dream, and we suddenly woke up."

"Sir, do you have any idea what happened?" Bardock asked.

"None" King Vegeta said.

"Hmm…" Bardock mumbled.

"Do you have something else you want to say?" King Vegeta asked.

"Perhaps" Bardock said. "If, that is, you don't plan to kill me in my sleep over it."

"What?"

"I heard about what you did to Paragus and his son" Bardock growled. "You seem to have a fear of powers potentially greater than yours."

"Powers greater than mine?" King Vegeta asked. "Are you calling me cowardly?"

"Perhaps" Bardock commented.

"I don't have time to listen to the ramblings of a low level" King Vegeta spat. "Guards, remove him at once."

"Lay a hand on me, and you'll be sorry" Bardock warned, but they kept coming for him. "Fine, you want a piece of me?"

Just as the two guards reached to escort Bardock out, they were blown away with incredible force. A blue aura flared up around Bardock, turning pale yellow.

King Vegeta narrowed his eyes. "Could it be?"

Bardock's hair raised, spiking upwards, and glowing yellow. He opened his eyes, which had turned a deep green. Staring the king down with a cold stare, Bardock let his power rise. "I suppose that you are impressed?"

The king was shocked. "This, this isn't…"

"The legendary Super Saiyan?" SSJ Bardock asked. "I believe it is."

The king picked up an intricate scouter off of the table beside him. "This is astounding" he admitted. "Moments ago, you power level was much less than this. Now, you are exceeding 500,000." Placing the scouted down, he looked back at Bardock. "Even the king, must respect a Super Saiyan" he said, giving a short bow. "How did you come across this power?"

"A long tale, that most of it you would find tall" SSJ Bardock stated. "Let's just say that when I was caught in Frieza's attack, rather than send me to kingdom come, it sent me to the far past of this planet, when it was still under the control of the Plant people. I had a run in with Frieza's ancestor, and through the battle, my body gave me the power necessary to defeat him."

"Unbelievable" the king said, still awed by the form. "I would call that tale nothing but a fairy tale, yet the proof within it is standing before me."

"This-" SSJ Bardock was cut off by an arriving Saiyan.

"My liege!" he saluted. "We have news."

"About?" King Vegeta asked.

"Perrepa and Rote just returned from their mission" he announced. "They failed quite miserably, in fact. It would appear as if they were beaten away by a single being without a traceable power level."

"Really? Perrepa and Rote?" King Vegeta asked. "And the planet they were sent to conquer?"

"Nothing happened to it" he said. "They failed completely."

"Hrr…" King Vegeta growled. "Did you fetch the scouted data?"

"Yes sir" he said, taking out what appeared to be a holo-projector. Setting it on the floor, he stepped back, just as an image popped up on screen.

The hologram showed a being dressed in orange, with blue hair arriving at the scene. The scouters didn't sense any power level on him, in fact, he didn't even exist on them. The man blasted them, and soon after, the footage ended.

Picking up the holo-projector, he bowed once more. "At that point, something happened to overload the scouters. We don't know what."

"Peculiar" King Vegeta stated. "How could a being have so much power, yet not have any of it register on a scouter?"

"If you don't mind my asking, what planet were those two sent to?" Bardock asked, having dropped to his base form.

"They were sent to occupy a small planet called Earth" King Vegeta said. "We have one mission of a Saiyan being sent there, but the planet is not under our control, so it must have gone awry somewhere."

"Earth?!" Bardock exclaimed.

"Yes, what about it?" King Vegeta asked.

Bardock composed himself. "I've heard that the planet it weak, how could a being of that power live there?"

King Vegeta stepped off of his throne and looked out the window. "At a time like this, an old tale, passed down through the royal family, comes to mind."

"Sir?" Bardock asked.

"I don't suppose that you remember the time that we were paid a surprise visit by the God of Destruction?" King Vegeta asked. "When he arrived, no one could get a read on him. He didn't exist on the scouters. However, one could just feel the aura of power that emanated from him. Dangerously powerful, yet invisible to a scouter…"

"You aren't suggesting, that perhaps the planet Earth is under the protection of a God?" Bardock asked.

"It seems rather likely at this point" King Vegeta said. "However, there are ways to fight gods. At least, stories of ways."

"Ways, to fight, gods?" Bardock asked.

King Vegeta turned around to face him. "You have unlocked the power of a Super Saiyan. However, in the old tales, there were multiple forms of Super Saiyans. The one you have unlocked, the true power of a Saiyan. The Legendary Super Saiyan, a berserker so powerful, he posed a risk to even his closest comrades. However, there is a tale, passed down only through the royal family, of a Super Saiyan, known as a Super Saiyan God."

"A Super Saiyan God?" Bardock asked. "Sounds more like a wives tale than something tangible."

"Hmmph" King Vegeta huffed. "It was stated, that when 5 Saiyan possessing goodness in their hearts, poured their energy into another Saiyan, that Saiyan would take on a transformation so powerful, it went on to the level of gods."

"So, what you're saying, is that if we create a Super Saiyan God, we may be able to take the planet" Bardock asked.

"I will create several as backup. We have no idea how strong this god is" King Vegeta stated. "This will more than likely be a mass mission."

Bardock bowed before the king. "Then Sir, let me be one of the ones to go to the Earth with you" he requested.

"I wasn't going to take no for an answer" King Vegeta stated. "You are the first Super Saiyan in one thousand years, and you will be most pivotal in any battle."

"Very well" Bardock said. He turned to walk out of the throne room. Once he was outside, he looked skyward. "I don't know how me and this entire planet got restored, but I'm glad. I'm glad that it gives me this chance. If I go to Earth, I may be able to find him." He closed his eyes. "Kakarot, I will find you."

* * *

 **Earth/Mobius (about 2 weeks prior)**

* * *

"Are you sure an army of monkeys will be able to wear down our adversaries?" Nazo asked.

"They will be able to, after I make this wish" Frieza said.

They stood before the colossal majesty of Shenron, freshly summoned from the Dragonballs. " _State your wishes, I do not wish to remain here!_ " he roared.

"Eternal Dragon!" Frieza cried. "I wish for you to restore Planet Vegeta and it's inhabitants, back to the way they were before I destroyed them that day."

Shenron looked down at Frieza. " _Such a wish, that is NOT an easy wish to grant!_ "

"But you will, you must!" Frieza shouted.

" _HRRGH"_ Shenron roared, extending to full height. " _I will perform this wish. However, such mass resurrection will limit my powers, only allowing me to grant you one more wish after this. Speak your final wish!"_

"Dragon, my final wish is for you to instill a desire for their king to conquer this world, one which will push him to think up a way that will allow him to combat the guardians of this planet!" Frieza cried.

" _That wish is well within my power to grant"_ Shenron stated. Remaining for few more minutes, Shenron announced when the planet had been fully brought back to life. The Dragonballs proceeded to split, and fly off.

Nazo looked at Frieza. "Are you certain that this plan will work?" he asked.

"The King will be smart about his next move" Frieza stated. "He will leave no room for error. He will find a way to destroy the pathetic Saiyans and their rat friends. Afterwards, not only will we have no one standing in the way, but I can recapture the Saiyans as my servants, for galactic domination!"

Nazo studied Frieza. "You were sure about this last plan as well."

"This time, we will not fight the hedgehogs or those two Saiyans ourselves" Frieza stated. "They will be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers, and once the Saiyans are weakened and our foes defeated, we can step in and stop them, allowing us to claim the planet.

"I see" Nazo said. "Very well, how long do you think until the Saiyans go to war?"

"They will undoubtedly see the Earth as a failed attempt, and try again" Frieza said. "They will not know about the powerful beings, as this planet is marked as low level. Afterwards, they will need to come up with a way to take on their foes here, to which the second wish should take care of."

"You have, thought this out" Nazo said, impressed. "You calculated every detail."

"Yes indeed!" Frieza laughed with mirth. "I have let nothing go to chance this time. This will be a clean sweep, this time. Soon, not only will Goku and Sonic be dead, but I will have my most powerful army back! And this time, nothing in the universe will be able to stop me!"

* * *

 **Another quick update, sorry if the quality is a bit off because of it, but I feel like I've done a better job here than I have in a while. It's not all about the fights anymore, there's an actual plot going on. Expect the updates to be more frequent now, because this is the arc that I've been waiting to write since day 1! It took 30 chapters, a broken laptop, and over a year to get here, but here we are. As always, I hope you have enjoyed your read. I always love a review, and I will see you guys next time. Peace!**


	31. Tension Between the Team

**Since I've gotten so into writing again lately, and been working quite a lot on these stories, I of course have to debate, should I write a new chapter for Joined Worlds, or for my other story? And you know what? I wrote like 4 chapters in a row for my other story, to get it started. So, why not do a few successive chapters on Joined Worlds too? I'm guessing this should go up, maybe about 2 days after the last chapter, which introduced as all to the arc. Shall we get started? I think we shall.**

* * *

 **Capsule Corp…**

* * *

"Great job, Trunks" Bulma said. "Now we only need four more."

"No problem, Mom" Trunks' voice came over the phone. "Tails was cool, Knuckles too, and Frieza was a jerk. It's good to help get them back."

"Alright, sweetie, keep up the good work" Bulma said, hanging up. "Trunks just grabbed his second ball, and Goten as one also. It won't be long now, those two are naturals at this."

Shadow sat in the corner. "I don't see why we're gathering the Dragonballs already. Don't they just turn into useless rocks while they're recharging?"

"Yes, they do, but no point in waiting until they're restored to grab them" Bulma reasoned. "Might as well have them at our disposal to make sure we can wish those two back as soon as it becomes an option."

"Hmm…" Shadow grunted, closing his eyes.

Goku looked over at Shadow worriedly. "Shadow, I've never seen you so withdrawn. What's up?"

"This is how I've always been" Shadow said. "Just because I've been making an effort to become more social doesn't mean I don't have old habits."

"...How did your meeting with Sonic go?" Goku asked.

This got his attention. Shadow's eyes shot open. "With that fool? He's hardly a shade of his former self, it's pitiful, really."

"Hey!" Chi-Chi said. "You don't know what he's going through!"

"In fact, I do" Shadow said scathingly. "I watched the military of my world shoot my longest, closest, and only childhood friend in front of me! And after that, I got locked up and put into stasis, only to be released later on, under Eggman's care. Then, after that, just as I began to see the light, BOOM, amnesia, my entire past lost to me. I don't even want to _go_ into how many years I spent recovering from that. Now, I try to bond with my teammates, and now 2 of them are pretty far above us. That's why I was a lone wolf. I don't like the feeling of loss, but at least I deal with it! Sonic runs and hides!"

Everyone in the room was shocked after Shadow's blow-up. "So don't you dare tell me I have no idea what Sonic's going through! I've suffered tragedies that you couldn't begin to comprehend if they were injected right into you, yet I've held it together. What does that hedgehog have that makes him so much worse off than me?"

With a snap of his fingers, Shadow vanished in a flash of light. Gohan was the first to tear his eyes away from the spot where he had been. "So, Dad. We haven't talked much about what happened earlier. Are you absolutely sure that those two were Saiyans?"

"No doubt" Goku said. "They were wearing Saiyan armor, and they had the tails also. They told me they were Saiyans also, and they escaped in Saiyan Space Pods. Unless there was a Saiyan memorabilia sale…"

"Yeah, too much to ignore…" Gohan said. "This doesn't make sense, though. Some barely surviving Saiyans wouldn't be still working in the Planet Trade, and they wouldn't have all of their Saiyan tech."

"Maybe Vegeta will have a lead?" Goku asked. "He was the one who was raised as a Saiyan, after all."

"Probably, he'll be our best bet" Gohan said. "Anything related to the Saiyans always peaked Vegeta's interest, too, so we shouldn't have too much trouble getting him to help."

"Yeah, Vegeta was always too obsessed with his 'warrior race' craze for his own good" Bulma said.

"Maybe, but that same craze may tell us exactly what we need to know" Gohan pointed out. "What if there are other Saiyans out there?"

"Do you really think that there could be?" Chi-Chi asked.

"We won't know, not in the near future at least" Gohan said.

"Where is Vegeta, anyways?" Goku asked.

"He's been in the Gravity Training Chamber for forever now" Bulma said. "I think how easily Frieza defeated him got to him."

"And Shadow still won't tell us where Sonic ended up going?" Gohan asked.

"No" Goku said. "Whatever he and Sonic discussed, he's mad at him over it."

"I can understand him having experiences like what he had" Chi-Chi said. "But he's pretty closed off. Sonic doesn't act it, but he has a lot of emotions. He's got a lot going on beneath the surface, and Shadow is just numbing himself. If he does that all the time, of course he can't understand what Sonic is going through."

* * *

 **Gravity Training Room…**

* * *

* **CRACK***

"That's why we don't sneeze at 200x Gravity!" Vegeta roared.

Shadow rubbed his nose with difficulty. The floor beneath him was cracked in a spiderweb-style pattern. "Ex, cuse, me" he grunted with difficulty.

"Hmmph" Vegeta snorted, turning around and jumping up into the air, moving fluidly through the intensified gravity.

"Show-off" Shadow grunted, struggling to take a step forward. "How you do this all the time without liquefying your bones is beyond me."

"Usually, we don't jump into the deep end of the pool" Vegeta called back. He appeared to be performing some sort of target practice, delivering quick precise blows to hovering machines in order to turn them off. "When I started, I began at 10x, and went up from there. You're doing much better than is to be expected, however. Merely remaining standing at this level, with no prior training is a feat in of itself."

"I've had to deal with a few gravity fields, and planets with stronger gravities" Shadow grunted, taking another step forward., but his knees buckled, and he fell onto all fours. His elbows felt as if they were about to snap, but he found the strength to get back to his feet.

Raising his hand with extreme difficulty, Shadow threw a punch in the air. "But still, nothing anything like this" he grunted.

"Why are you even in here, anyways" Vegeta asked, striking another button.

"Blow off, hrrgh, some steam" Shadow grunted.

"You chose quite a way to do it in" Vegeta said. "You realize that you could kill yourself like this?"

"Not me" Shadow grunted, tossing another punch. "You underestimate hedgehogs, we aren't so frail as we look."

"Oh believe me, ever since I saw what your friend did to Frieza, I've stopped underestimating you two" Vegeta admitted. "It was almost as gruesome as I imagined doing to him myself."

"Yeah, I guess you would've killed to be able to do what he did" Shadow grunted. He attempted a kick, but as soon as his foot come off the ground, the gravity coming down on his leg seemed to multiply, forcing it down. "You were the one, that he enslaved, for your entire childhood."

"No joke" Vegeta snarled, pushing the next button so hard that the machine caved in.

Wheeling around on the spot, causing Shadow to lose a lot of energy in doing so, Shadow glared at nothing in particular. "Sonic get's, the revenge, of a lifetime, yet he's, the one, who's all broken down, by the whole thing."

"You know" Vegeta asked, taking out another drone. "It seems, as if, Sonic, and Kakarot, they mirror each other. Both, are emotional, and lax, and none too driven, yet we always seem to fall behind them, in some way or another. I, I push myself to my limits, I never allow myself to be lazy. Yet, Kakarot finds himself ahead of me. Even Whis noticed. He told, me and Kakarot, we had to balance ourselves with the other's traits. I need to rest, and he needs to be more intense. Yet, it hasn't seemed to make a difference on either of us."

"At least Goku isn't a weakling" Shadow grunted. "If, if Goku, feels something, he get's over it. Sonic, he skulks in the corner, waiting for it to all get better." Raising his hand, he aimed at one of the devices, and a burst of yellow energy. The Chaos Spear moved slowly through the air, fizzling it out just before it came into contact. "Why, does he, have to be, so weak, when he's, so powerful?"

"No warrior, is without flaws" Vegeta said, dashing over and hitting three buttons at once. "My pride and anger blinded me most of my life, and I still can be triggered easily. Kakarot is too trusting, he's innocent. His guard drops too often. And you, Shadow…"

"What, about me?" Shadow asked, attempting another Chaos Spear, blasting at another machine, but it fizzled out once more.

"Between you and me…" Vegeta said, landing. "Emotions can be weakening for some warriors, but empowering to others. Warriors like Kakarot, and Sonic, they use emotion to tap into their innermost power, and use them to motivate their will to fight. You, however, Shadow, let your emotions rule you. I was like you, for a very long time. You become what you feel. And that could mean your end."

"So I can't win" Shadow gunted. "If I close myself off, I become evil. If I open myself up, I'm likely to get myself killed. What course of action am I supposed to take?"

"You either keep on your course that you're on right now, and hope that it doesn't kill you" Vegeta said darkly. "Or, you try to change, and control your emotions. I can admit, I'm not perfect at this. But if you don't, then you will be easy to bait into mistakes. I almost cost us the fight against Cell, because I threw myself in the way of his attacks, and Gohan felt like he had to save me from Cell's attack. Because of that, Gohan was weakened, and the Earth almost perished. That experience is what helped me start reigning in my emotions. Of course," he said, gripping his fist tight, "I will never be free of them. Mere years later, anger made me succumb to the darkness once more. Since then, my efforts have been greater, but not easy."

"..." Shadow went silent.

Vegeta smirked. "You taught me how to soften up and accept things like Fusion with Kakarot. I suppose that it was my turn to teach you a thing or two."

"..." Shadow was still silent. Turning around, he continued to attempt to launch blows through the air.

Rushing over and hitting the last button, Vegeta landed. "I'd say I have had enough time in here for today." Landing, Vegeta walked over to the edge of the room and hit the Off-button.

Shadow, who had been attempting to punch, didn't expect the sudden lightening of the gravity, and the force of his attempt sent him flying forward. Curling up, Shadow spun off of the wall and landed hard on the floor. "A little warning next time, you think?" he grouched.

"Hmmph" Vegeta smirked. "Lock it up when you're done with your nap."

Vegeta walked out, the door slammed shut behind him.

* * *

 **Snake Way…**

* * *

"Huff, huff, huff, Tails, I, I can't, go on" Knuckles huffed.

"Come on, Knuckles, I'm sure that we only have a little ways more to go" Tails pleaded.

"You said that a week ago" Knuckles pointed out.

"That guy over at the check-in said, that since we were friends of Goku, we ought to go visit this King Kai guy" Tails said. "He should be able to tell us something with knowing, according to him."

"Yeah, but we've been going for a really long time" Knuckles said. "Even if we're, well, _dead,_ we can still get tired. Why in the world haven't you gotten tired yet?"

"Maybe because I'm more driven than you?" Tails asked.

"Come on, I want to get there just as much as you do" Knuckles said. "There's something that you're not telling me."

Tails frowned. "No, there's not, Knuckles, I just want to get this long walk over with."

Knuckles looked at his friend. "Nah, that's not it, but I won't pry."

Tails glared at his friend, then let out a sigh. "I suppose that we could rest here, but just for a while" he said.

"Thanks, Tails" Knuckles said in relief. "I owe you one."

"Yeah, you do" Tails thought. Easing himself down with his twin tails, Tails sat on the edge of the path beside Knuckles, albeit slightly farther back. He had heard, that beneath those those yellow clouds, the hell of this world awaited. Many of the locals (he was already thinking of his fellow dead as _locals_ ) made light of it by calling it H.F.I.L., Home for Infinite Losers. It gave him some sense of satisfaction that, until Nazo had revived him, Frieza had been rotting down there.

Tails looked off ahead of the path. He had been told Snake Way was a long trail, but he thought, that after almost 2 continuous weeks of full speed travel, that he might have already been there. Worst part is, the thing wasn't linear, so he had no way of knowing if he was at the end until he was literally right on top of it.

Tails let out a sigh. "You know, Knuckles…" Tails began to say. "I'm, I'm starting to wonder, even if we reach the end, will we ever be able to see Sonic again?"

Knuckles sat his head on his knees. "To be honest, Tails, it all depends. Goku told us that King Kai can allow for communication, but in terms of actually seeing him, it may be a long time."

Tails sighed. "So I might have time to look…" he muttered to himself.

"What was that, Tails?" Knuckles asked.

"Wha-, nothing!" Tails exclaimed.

"Sure, and I can beat Sonic in a foot race" Knuckles snorted. "What's the point of being friends if all you're going to do is keep secrets from me?"

"Just, don't, Knuckles" Tails begged. "I don't want to talk about it."

"...Well, then how about we get moving?" Knuckles asked.

"What?" Tails asked. "We just stopped for you."

"And you obviously have something really pressing on your mind" Knuckles shot back. "I can handle being a bit sore if it means that you won't be quite so tormented."

Tails smiled. "Gee, thanks Knuckles" he said.

Tails wound his two tails around each other, and began propelling himself down the path. Knuckles began running at top speed to keep up. "Dangit, Tails, you don't slack off when it comes to speed, do you?"

"Nope" Tails replied over his shoulder.

Knuckles gritted his teeth as they ran. "If only there wasn't that sinkhole everywhere around us, it would've been so much easier to fly there."

"Hmm…" was the only thing to come from Tails.

As they ran, Knuckles also laughed at Tails. "I can't remember the last time I saw you this worked up. I just wonder what's gotten into you."

* * *

 **Planet Vegeta (One Week Later)...**

* * *

"You're going to the planet where Kakarot was sent?"

"Correct."

"And what about those visions you said you were having, before…"

"They've stopped, because I feel that they've already come to pass."

"Do you think, that this means, that we are, finally free, of Frieza?"

Bardock nodded. "It was fated that our son defeat Frieza, I saw it myself."

Bardock stood outside of the main meat-processing plant on Planet Vegeta. He had to talk to the one waiting for him there.

"I sure hope that you manage to find him" Gine said. "And I'm also hoping that this will be the last time we have to go after a planet. Once you find Kakarot, and he tells us that Frieza is truly gone, we'll be free. The Saiyans will no longer be forced to operate in the Planet Trade."

"That's what I'm hoping for" Bardock said. "However, first, I will have to find Kakarot. After that, I'm not sure. The chances of him recognizing me are slim, and I'm not sure what the chances of him believing me are."

"He'll believe you" Gine assured him. "He has to. How do you plan to find him?"

"Don't know" Bardock shrugged. "I remember how he looked in my last vision. He has my hair, at the very least. I suppose I can keep an eye out for that."

Thundering footsteps came up behind him. Bardock turned around, and the main guard who had been in King Vegeta's throne room was running to him. "Sir Bardock, your presence is requested by the King!" he said.

"'Sir Bardock,' huh?" Gine teased.

"What can I say, they're really impressed by a Super Saiyan" Bardock shrugged.

"Well, you go impress them again" Gine said. Quiter, she whispered "And bring our son home."

Bardock nodded. "Right."

"Sir, now" the Saiyan guard demanded.

"Yeah, yeah, hold yourself together" Bardock grouched, walking away. Standing in a clearing, Bardock leapt into the air and flew off, towards the palace.

On the grounds in front of the palace, there was a massive gathering of Saiyan warriors. In the center, a Saiyan who appeared to be lit up in a beacon of red light stood. However, as he drew closer, the glow appeared to fade, just leaving a normal Saiyan in his place.

Bardock touched down outside of the circle, where the King noticed him. "Bardock" King Vegeta said, marching forward. "We have discovered the secrets to unlock the powers of the Super Saiyan God."

"Really?" Bardock asked. "One week, and you have it down?"

"The strength of willpower" King Vegeta said. "We've found out the conditions, and sadly, there are some, limitations."

"You didn't think a power of such fantastical proportions would come easy, did you?" Bardock asked. "What exactly are the limitations you speak of?"

"For one, it would appear that the form is quite fleeting" King Vegeta said. "Our average warrior can only maintain the form for thirty minutes, some more, some less. Afterwards, they appear to pass out for some time."

"So you need to be quick" Bardock said. "Easy enough, isn't it?"

"That's not all" King Vegeta said. "It would appear that very few of our warriors are able to transform at all. Out of the hundreds of our warriors that are attempting to become gods for the mission, only about a dozen are able to transform. It would appear that most of our able Saiyan Gods, however, are more hesitant to invade a planet."

"So, the Saiyans that we reserve for guarding the planet?" Bardock asked. "Wouldn't that suggest that the Saiyans that become gods have to be further passive than most of us. Won't that mean that they aren't going to want to invade the planet?"

"They wish to prove themselves" King Vegeta stated. "To a Saiyan, the chance to stack one's self up against a God, as you know, is a rather appealing opportunity."

"Can't deny that" Bardock said. Closing his eyes, he thought hard. "I do wonder if my heart has softened enough on Planet Plant to allow me access to these powers."

"So, it appears that we will only be able to have a dozen Saiyan Gods to help us fight this god" King Vegeta said. "However, to deal with one God, it should be enough."

"Hmmph" Bardock huffed. "Is that all?"

King Vegeta looked at him. "I would have wanted to ask you if you wished to try these powers for yourself, but you appear to be want to go elsewhere."

Bardock stood still for a moment, then nodded. "Perhaps later, definitely before the mission. I need to be sure that I'm compatible with these powers before we go. But for now, I have to train."

"Training?" King Vegeta asked. "The Super Saiyan requires training?"

"We've been dead for a very long time, who knows how rusty our skills are?" Bardock asked. "Besides, I am not strong enough to be satisfied yet."

"Not satisfied as a Super Saiyan?" King Vegeta asked.

"You said yourself that the scouter clocked me in at 500,000 while transformed" Bardock said. "Yet Frieza easily achieved 530,000. I need to get much, much stronger."

"Hmm…" King Vegeta mumbled. "Perhaps we could both use the training. Do you wish to grow strong quickly?"

"Indeed" Bardock said.

"Then we shall spare together" King Vegeta said. "You may have been a low class soldier, but your status as Super Saiyan exceeds my royal blood."

"Why thank you, my king" Bardock said. "But how will our sparing increase our powers faster than training in the asteroid field, per say?"

"We will aim to mortally wound each other" King Vegeta stated. "We will use our special abilities to wound each other and heal ourselves in regen tubes. Our Zenkai will allow us to gain power in leaps in bounds. After all, that is what you wanted, is it not?"

"Enduring pain to increase strength?" Bardock asked. He smirked. "It's what I do best."

King Vegeta laughed. "Perhaps the idea of classes throughout our planet has been wrong. If a low class like you was powerful enough to become a Super Saiyan, and courageous enough to confront Frieza even before that, well, classes mean next to nothing."

"Hmmph, that's what me and my partners tried to prove" Bardock said. "Before Frieza sicced his elites on them while I was away."

"They will be honored" King Vegeta assured him. "They were the first of us to actively resist Frieza's tyranny, and for that, the planet is grateful."

"..." Bardock was silent, as his mind remembered the broken bodies, lying in the wastelands of Planet Meat. Tora, as he croaked out his last words, everyone's blood pooling on the ground beneath them.

He shook his head. "I'm glad to hear that. They didn't deserve what they got."

"Yes, quite" King Vegeta nodded. "Come, let's spar. The mission preparation will go on for a few more weeks, that should be enough time for at least a few recoveries."

"Right, sir" Bardock said, walking after the king.

* * *

 **Knothole…**

* * *

*KNOCK*KNOCK*KNOCK*

"Come on, Sonic, we know that you're in there!" Sally shouted. "Open up, you know that this isn't good for you!"

"Yeah, Sugarhog" Bunny called. "You can't just stay locked up forever!"

No response came from behind the thick wooden door. The window revealed that he was still in there, but he didn't even move when the two had come up. He layed on his side, facing away from the two.

Sally let out a sigh and pounded on the door again. "You can't just lay in there for the rest of your life, Sonic. It's been a week already, and you haven't come out."

No response. Not even a twitch. Sonic continued to lie as still as a corpse. Their only affirmation that he _wasn't_ was the slight rising and falling of his chest.

Bunny stepped up to the door. "Want me to give his door a knock, Sally girl?" she asked.

"No, Bunny, there's no need for that" Sally sighed, knowing full well what Bunny meant by 'knock' by the way she had her robotic arm raised. "Sonic obviously isn't ready to come out yet."

"Come on, Sally" Bunny insisted. "You know full well that he hasn't come out once, and doesn't keep any food in there. Is he planning to starve himself of contact and food?"

Sally looked through the window again. "Bunny, we can't force him to come out. I may be still feeling down about Tails,' but, well, Sonic and him, they were inseparable. Sonic just lost two of his closest friends, and from what I've heard, he blames himself."

"Why on earth would he do that?" Bunny asked.

"Because he feels that if he toughed it out a little longer against Frieza, he could have defeated him, which meant Shadow wouldn't have stepped up and spilled the beans about the Chaos energy, and Frieza wouldn't have still been around to kill them."

"Now that's just too obscure to be true" Bunny said.

"Yeah, but you know how guilt feels" Sally said. "It makes you think that things you couldn't have prevented are all because of you."

"Well, if anything, it sounds like this Shadow fellow is the one responsible for this" Bunny stated. "Didn't he tell that guy how to get stronger?"

Sally looked over her shoulder at Sonic. "Sonic doesn't want to blame Shadow. He's done stuff like that in the past himself, so he probably won't chose to do that. But still!" she said, now walking to the window. "Sonic, you aren't one to take things lying down. Get up and make something of yourself!"

Sonic rolled over on the bed. He met her gaze for a brief second, and then disappeared.

Sally grew wide-eyed. "That indignant little…" she began to say, before she gave up. "Uhhhh" she let out a deep breath.

"What is it, Sally?" Bunny asked. "What just happened to Sonic?"

"He teleported away with Chaos Control" Sally said.

"He wouldn't open a door, but he would make a jump through time and space?" Bunny said.

"That sums it up" Sally said.

"But, but why would he go through all the trouble of that if he won't even talk to anyone?" Bunny asked.

"Because, Bunny" Sally said. "Sonic's going through what looks like a pretty crippling depression."

"But Sugarhog isn't the type to let his feelings get to him" Bunny said. "The entire time we knew him, he's never been anything but cool, calm, and collected."

"Sonic always had Tails by his side" Sally said. "Me and him were close, no doubt, but they had a closer bond than most families. I think Sonic always was able to act the way he did, because he had Tails there with them. They both thought that Tails was drawing courage from sonic, but it was a two way street."

"That's just awful" Bunny gasped.

Sally nodded. "Tails' and Knuckles, they were both close friends of mine, and of Sonic. It was hard for me, but it's destroying him."

"Can't we do anything to help?" Bunny asked.

"Not at this point" Sally said. "Sonic is too far gone for that. He has to save himself, otherwise, the Sonic we knew may be gone forever."

* * *

 **?**

* * *

Sonic was moving through darkness. At unimaginable speeds, Sonic rushed through the area between time, space, and the world, as is the normal feeling for using Chaos Control.

For the first time since Space Colony ARK, Sonic had jumped without a destination in mind. He had no idea where he would end up, and frankly, he didn't care. He just knew that he couldn't face anyone, let alone Sally. He'd spent their entire childhood proving that nothing could take him down, and then he goes and does this.

Suddenly, Sonic felt the wind slap his face, and he felt weightless. Eyes still closed, he realized that he had jumped out of Chaos Control into midair. Cold air supported him as he went down. Before he had time to fully process any of this…

 ***FLOOM***

Sonic belly-flopped on the surface, a storm of particles flying up around him. He recognized the surface underneath him as sand. The gentle lapping of waves against shore came to his ears, and the smell of salt was thick in the air. The atmosphere was cold, humid, but chilled. No light had come through his eyelids, leading him to believe that night had fallen, wherever he was. It had only been four in the afternoon in Knothole, so he was a long way away.

Pushing himself off of the ground, sand spilling off of his head, and more spilling out of his mouth, he shook his head and opened his eyes.

He was definitely on a beach. The moon hung brightly in the sky, huge, reflecting off of the waves. The beach spread a long ways in either direction, but narrow, only going about 30 feet behind him, and the water being almost within touching distance. The location looked familiar, but he couldn't quite figure out from where. Until he looked to his right.

A large hill spread out at the edge of the beach, starting off as a rocky, craggy wall, then spreading into luscious green slopes. The rocky part curved, forming sort of an embrace on the beach within it. Eight palm trees lied within, in two, perfectly parallel rows of four.

Sonic frowned. "Out of all the places for me to end up…" he muttered.

Standing up, he walked over towards the hills. Stopping in between the two rows, he rested his hand on one of the palms. "Yeah, this is it…" he said.

Walking forward, he came up just beside the stone wall. Picking up a small stone off the ground, he tossed it at the wall in front of him. The wall flashed, and the stone disappeared.

"Disguised the place with a cloaking field" Sonic realized. "Smart choice, Tails…"

He stepped forward, phasing through the wall himself. He came into pitch black darkness, the only light in the doorway. Behind him, the wall didn't exist, the moonlight gleaming faintly on the smooth stone floor.

Feeling on the wall, Sonic flipped a switch, and lights came on, illuminating the entire chamber. Rows upon rows of workshop tables were revealed, diagrams and small machinery and parts spread across them. Various tools were spread throughout the room, chalkboards with faded writing, easels with complicated blueprints, everything an inventor could ever want or need. In the very back, a large doorway stood against the corner, a doorway made of a light-colored metal. Sonic would recognize that door from anywhere.

Sonic picked up a small canister on the counter. Popping off the lid, he viewed the glowing contents. He reached inside, and pulled out a large golden ring. With a sigh, he put it back. "Power Rings, how long has it been since I've had to use one of these?" he wondered.

Setting the canister back down, he continued to the doorway that he viewed in the back. At the entry, he hesitated. Running his hand across the frame, he looked down, as he had some nightmarish flashbacks.

" _I believed in you… I BELIEVED IN YOU!"_

Shivers ran up Sonic's spine. "I'm sorry…" he whispered.

He stepped through the doorway, the floor underneath his feet changing from stone to metal in a single step. The corridor had windows, but nothing was visible through them. It was all black. Each one of his footsteps sent echoes throughout the entire place, dull, thundering sounds…

Something underneath Sonic caught his foot, and he took a tumble, his body crashing down to the floor, a noise, explosive in the silence, ripped through the place. Clutching his head, Sonic reached up along the wall, looking for something that he could grab onto. He instead found a button, one which was pressed when he was groping for a handhold.

Immediately, lights blazed on throughout the hall. Sonic was blinded by the suddenness of it all, only seeing white, until his eyes adjusted. Blinking the spots out, everything becoming familiar. The light silver walls, windows leading into dark rooms, metal doors like the kind you'd find in a high-tech prison. Except, it wasn't a prison. Sonic walked to the end of the hall and pressed the button to open the door there. The door opened, revealing…

"Even this part was cloaked..." Sonic said, looking out over the bridge, at the ocean before him. A rather impressive control console was spread out on his left, with several layers, multiple operating points. "But perfectly intact. The Blue Typhoon…"

True enough, the Blue Typhoon was fully intact, and apparently, operational. He half wondered if his current emotional state had influenced his location, but he wasn't sure. Chaos was enriched by the heart, not changed by it. The Blue Typhoon was a sight of bad memories. For Sonic, yes. For everyone else that had come with them, absolutely. But, it was worst for Tails, it's captain. It was because of the Blue Typhoon, and what had transpired on it, that Sonic was worried that his friend wouldn't be willing to come back. Knuckles, even if he wasn't particularly fond of their current, always on guard lifestyle, had nothing holding him there, and had an obligation to the Master Emerald back on this plane of reality. Not only did Tails have no real obligations on the planet, but he might have something, no, some _one_ , giving him a reason to stay there.

Sonic sighed and hopped up. Landing in the control console he used, he sat down. He may have not been wanting to fly, but at least it was a seat. Of course, he could always go find his cabin, but he didn't feel like searching the ship. It had been far too long, with far too many memories.

" _I'm sorry, Tails, this was all I could find…"_

"Just another time I let you down, Tails" Sonic sighed. "My powers were so weak back then, if I had honestly done my best to hone them, would things have ended differently?"

An extremely charged feeling, speed so fast, it felt as if there was a gale force in a vacuum, a large, hard shell, larger than a moon, a bright explosion…

"The feel of killing your own friend…" Sonic muttered.

" _We wouldn't want you to get hurt now, would we?"_

"Then it seemed for a long time, as if Shadow had sacrificed himself again, to prevent catastrophe" Sonic said. "A double guilt, ringing through my conscious."

A long time after their space odyssey, Eggman had attempted his mind control scheme using the powers of the wisps. Soon after that, he had attempted to rule time with the time monster he found. It was a while yet after that when Chaos Control happened, and it wasn't until he saw Shadow in the control room that he had proof that he was alive. Sure, he had met him in the time rift, but he wasn't sure whether that was a past version of Shadow, or if it was the real guy. Everyone else met through the time rift seemed to be up to date, but then again, the 12 year old version of himself, the 4 year old version of Tails, and the, well, who knows how old version of Eggman had been there, so he couldn't have been too sure. Shadow was proven to be alive, after a long time, but nothing would ever scrub the other loss from his soul.

Sighing, Sonic rolled over in his seat, curling up into a ball. Usually, he only did that for a spin attack, but now, it was a way to help escape reality. "I'm sorry, everyone…" he muttered, before passing back out.

* * *

 **Capsule Corp…**

* * *

"So, a few rogue Saiyans decide to try to take the planet?" Vegeta asked. "They were of no threat, yet you decided to bother me with it?"

"Really, you aren't the slightest bit interested?" Goku asked.

"Uh, Vegeta" Gohan said, standing up. "My Dad forgot to mention, but both of the Saiyans that attacked were completely decked out in Saiyan tech. We don't think that a remnant of barely surviving Saiyans would have access to armor, scouters, and space pods, all of the same variety you used when you first came here."

"Really, full Saiyan gear?" Vegeta asked.

Goku nodded. "And they sure acted like you did when you first came here. Basing everything off of their scouters' readings and overly confident."

"Hmm…" Vegeta asked. "And what were these two Saiyans like?" he asked.

"One was a little weedy, but not quite as much as you were on your first visit" Goku described. "He had a really sharp, smart voice, and hair that curved back over his head, really straight along the back edge."

"And the second?" Vegeta asked.

"Well, he was a little larger" Goku said. "About a head taller than me, an angled face, hair a bit like a cross between mine and yours, and he had a really thick voice, violent, but intelligent."

"Hmm…" Vegeta thought. "No, it couldn't be…"

"Couldn't be what?" Goku asked.

"Those descriptions you gave me, they sound an awful lot like a pair of soldiers to serve under my father, as some of his top planet takers" Vegeta said. "Names were Perrepa and Rote. But, they went up in smoke, along with every other Saiyan on Planet Vegeta when Frieza destroyed it."

"But that can't be" Gohan said. "Even if they were off world at the time, they wouldn't have pristine gear now, like, 2 decades later, would they."

"No they would not" Vegeta said. "And the manufacturers of our gear too died, so this leaves no explanation as to how this happened."

"Damn, I was hoping you'd have something for us, Vegeta" Goku swore.

"Wha- I can't have every answer for anything Saiyan related" Vegeta said. "Otherwise, I would be able to explain _you_."

"HEY!" Goku protested.

"Anyways, we shouldn't dwell on it" Vegeta said. "It was more than likely a few more Saiyans that were lucky enough to be off world at the time, with some knock off gear."

"I see…" Gohan said thoughtfully. "But still, I wonder why they would want to capture the Earth. Any Saiyans free of Frieza wouldn't want to work in the Planet Trade, now would they?"

"Undoubtedly" Vegeta agreed. "Perhaps they were just trying to relive some glory days of capturing planets. The human race is viewed as extremely weak throughout the universe, so they probably thought it would be cheap, easy fun. Of course, they didn't count on several Saiyans living here."

"No, they didn't" Gohan said. In his pocket, a buzzing sound went off. Gohan pulled a phone out of his pocket, then immediately stood up. "Sorry, Dad, I have to go. Videl has an appointment, and I need to go watch Pan."

"Oh, sure thing, Son" Goku said. "Duty calls."

"Right, cya guys later" Gohan said quickly, flying out the window.

"Hmmph" Vegeta huffed, turning around to leave. He halted at the doorway. Without turning around, he began to speak once more. "Kakarot, are you doing what Whis recommended, and sharpening your mind?"

"Of course, Vegeta" Goku said. "After all, Whis is our teacher, and he's teaching us how to get stronger. You've been doing what Whis told you to do, right?"

"..." Vegeta didn't answer, walking out of the doorway.

"I can tell you that he hasn't been" Bulma said. "Whis told him to rest, right? Well, he's spending hours a day in that stupid gravity chamber. Honestly, he spends more time in it than out."

"Well, he doesn't want to fall behind" Goku said. "He wants to surpass me someday, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, but Whis told him that the biggest step towards getting stronger is laying off of the intense training" Bulma said. "Honestly, I don't understand him sometimes."

"That makes two of us" Goku chuckled.

Chi-Chi stood up. "Well, Bulma, thank you for having us over. I know, they've basically turned your home into a base ever since that incident happened."

"No problem, Chi-Chi, have you seen how big this place is?" Bulma asked. "Besides the house getting demolished that first night, it's been great not being so alone here."

Chi-Chi looked at Goku. "You know, you haven't even been home in the past few months. It;s time we head back, don't you think?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess" Goku said.

Chi-Chi turned back to Bulma. "If Goten ends up coming back by here, let us know, and I'll have Goku pick him up."

"You do know that Goten is perfectly capable of flying home himself, right Chi-Chi?" Goku asked.

"With those maniacs Frieza and Nazo on the loose?" Chi-Chi asked. "I don't think so. They might try to use him to get to us."

"Oh, yeah" Goku said. "I didn't consider that."

"Well, then it's a good thing that the woman you married is smart as well as strong" Chi-Chi said.

"Heh heh" Goku laughed nervously. He knew that if Sonic were here, he would have added a bit on the end.

"Scary too."

Remembering Sonic, Goku's nervous laugh died in his throat. "He's in really bad shape" he realized. "What'll happen to him?"

Chi-Chi took Goku's hand. "I want to get home quickly so that I can start dinner" she said. "I'll let you fly me home this time, just so long as you don't go too fast."

"Alright" Goku said, picking Chi-Chi up bridal style. Turning around, he nodded at Bulma. "Bye Bulma, see you later!"

"So long, you two!" Bulma waved back.

Goku stepped out on the deck, and took off into the sky. It was tinged orange in the setting sun, clouds hanging through about half of it. Looking at the sky as he flew, Goku started when he thought he saw Tails and Knuckles.

"Whoa, Goku!" Chi-Chi shrieked.

Goku blinked. "Sorry about that" he apologized.

What he had thought to be Tails and Knuckles were just particularly shaped breaks in the clouds. Goku could still see the image of Frieza murdering the two of them.

"Frieza, I'll make sure you pay in full" Goku thought furiously.

* * *

 **So, yes, a few elements in the upcoming arc about the development of Sonic's team, as you can see. Sonic is going through a heavy depression. He's spent his entire life just pushing his emotions aside and ignoring them, and it's finally come back to bite him on the, you know. Shadow is peeved at Sonic for giving up so easily. And, probably any self-respecting fan knows exactly why Sonic is worried about Tails not returning, and why Tails is so driven to make it to the end of Snake Way. I won't say outright, but you know. Shadow is also forming a bond with Vegeta, the two having similar vents to give out, and finding their similar personas clicking together. And Planet Vegeta is still preparing for a war on "The God of the Earth." This will be cool.**

 **Sorry if the end seemed a bit rushed. I'm used to doing cliffhangers for endings, and I was a bit too rushed anyways. Any Dokkan Players in the house? World Tournament starts soon, so I can't have any distractions if I want to rank high. Not that this is just a 'distraction,' of course, I love writing this, but if you play, you get why.**

 **I hope you all are enjoying the new arc so far, and my new style of giving this a bit more of a story. I should see you guys in, well, maybe two weeks, maybe less, maybe more, but it's coming like a freight train, don't doubt it. Drop a Review, I always love those, and I'll see you guys next time. PEACE! (fun fact, before the words in these parentheses, this chapter had exactly 7200 words)**


	32. A Surprising Resurfacing

**Capsule Corp (Two Weeks Later)…**

* * *

*BOOM*

"Those two are really going at it, aren't they?"

"You might want to look out, Goku, Vegeta may be finding a new rival."

"Hey, he won't replace me until he surpasses me, he's said so himself a whole bunch of time" Goku protested.

Bulma waggled a knowing finger. "That's true, but with him, Vegeta's able to emphasize more, and still train on par with. Shadow doesn't annoy him as much as you do."

"But I'm not annoying" Goku said.

"Not all the time, no" Bulma chuckled. "But your attitude does anger Vegeta, since you _are_ a Saiyan, after all."

Goku's shoulders slumped. "You know, it's a good thing you developed that giant force field thing for fighting, so we can all go all out without damaging the planet."

"I figured that you guys won't always want to go all the way to the Time Chamber to spar, so this was a good fix" Bulma shrugged. "And I must say, I'm glad I did. Those two would have probably leveled the city with the power they're outputting."

Up in the force field, two figures, glowing like miniature stars, clashed repeatedly. Shadow radiated like a supernova with the power of his Pure Form, while Vegeta was like ice in the sun as he flared neon blue in his Super Saiyan Blue form.

Shadow blasted forward in a fiery comet, spinning towards Vegeta. Vegeta ascended at blinding speeds, narrowly avoiding Shadow's attack, before twisting in the air and laying his hand outstretched. A massive orb of blue energy grew in his hand, before it rocketed forward, towards the uncurling Shadow. Seeing the orb coming, Shadow crossed his arms in front of him, glowing with an aura of red energy. Before it struck, the red power expanded violently, stopping the orb in its tracks, and beginning to push it back. The power struggle reached critical levels, and the entire field was filled with the intense explosion.

The force field began to crack slightly under the pressure, fissures running through the glowing green surface. Two plumes of energy spilled out of opposing side, and the explosive energy shot outwards. Beacons of light shone through the smoke, and Shadow and Vegeta both righted themselves in midair above the others.

Bulma rubbed her head sheepishly. "Still needs some enhancements. Two god level deities fighting at full power inside, well, it breaks…"

Vegeta and Shadow both descended. Vegeta's hair dropped, going back to black, and Shadow's bright aura siphoned off of him, and flew back into the air, dashing off into the distance, to return to the Master Emerald.

When they hit the ground, Shadow fliched, leaning slightly on his left leg. "Not enough, yet" Shadow said.

"You're improving rapidly" Vegeta commented. "Your speed and technique have grown, and you are at least able to hold your own now."

"Geez, Vegeta, are you Shadow's mentor now or something?" Goku asked. "You've been training him day and night for the past few weeks."

"You know the feeling of being a mentor, Kakarot" Vegeta glared at him. "After all, we both taught, you know who I mean."

"Yeah, but you never seemed to enjoy it very much" Goku chuckled.

"Hmmph" Vegeta huffed. "At least I know what I'm doing. Where's _your_ protege at?"

At this, both Goku and Shadow frowned. "Bad subject, Vegeta" Shadow growled.

"It's the truth, isn't it?" Vegeta asked. "You've been growing under my regime, while blue boy has disappeared from the face of the planet. You said so yourself, he wasn't there when you went to check on him, and that was over a week ago."

Goku stepped forward, fist raised. "Tell me, Vegeta. How would you feel if Bulma and Trunks were murdered right before your eyes?" he growled.

Bulma looked at Goku reproachfully, but didn't respond. Vegeta's eyes grew hard, and a spark flared into existence before him. "Well, how does it feel, just to think about it?" Goku pushed on. "And Sonic, he had to live through that."

"A Saiyan doesn't let emotions break him-" Vegeta began to say, but Goku cut him off.

"In the middle of a fight" Goku stated. "We push through the fight, then we feel, just like anyone else. Sonic did exactly that, and he's no Saiyan, now is he? So, what do you have to say to that?"

Vegeta stepped forward, fist raised. "Let me tell you something, _Kakarot…_ " Vegeta growled. He hadn't said "Kakarot" with that much anger since his mind had been overshadowed with Babidi's magic.

"ENOUGH!" Bulma shouted. "Listen to you two! You're bickering like a pair of first graders. Goku, you never actually went to school, so you have an excuse-"

"Hey!" Goku protested.

"-But Vegeta, you have no excuse. Goku's right about Sonic, you would feel the same way, if not worse, if the same thing that happened to Sonic and Tails happened to me and Trunks" Bulma stated. "You can't even be mad at Goku for saying what he did, because you know yourself, that it's the truth. And you, Shadow…"

"What? I didn't even talk" Shadow said.

"You don't need to, I recognize that expression on your face, and I know what you're still thinking" she said. "You still think that Sonic is weak because of what his feelings are doing to him. How about you grow up and realize that everyone takes things their own way, and reacts their own way. Sonic has pent up his emotions to keep going for so long, and you mock him when it catches up to him."

Shadow raised his eyebrows, his eyes showing a hint of anger, but they were more bemused than angry. Raising his hand, Shadow left the scene.

Vegeta turned back to Goku. "Perhaps I was hard on the hedgehog" he admitted. "But you know, as well as I do, we wouldn't just, disappear from the face of the planet, because we were feeling bad for someone dying. Do you even know if he's still alive?"

"Sonic isn't the type to kill himself" Goku said shortly. "And I'm pretty sure Eggman and the others would have wanted to gloat if they had destroyed him."

Bulma looked at Goku. "Do we honestly have no idea where he is?" she asked.

Goku shook his head. "Shadow admitted that Sonic was in Knothole earlier that day, when they had their conversation. But then, when he went back the next day to see if Sonic was still the same, he had just, vanished. Apparently, Sally said that he had left by Chaos Control. Shadow tried to follow the signal, but it was too weak to follow."

"So why isn't anyone out looking?" Bulma asked. "Why is Shadow training when he could be helping to find him?"

"Silver went out to look" Goku said. "He's been out since the day after it happened, and he's been keeping in contact. No sign of Sonic from him either. Gohan's also keeping an eye out whenever he has free time, and Tien is making sure to travel around while he trains so that he can see if he get a read on Sonic."

"Oh, so we do have lookouts" Bulma said.

"Yes, but they won't turn up someone who doesn't want to be found" Vegeta said. "His power is different than ours, so Gohan and Tien won't have as easy of a time to sense him out as we would one of our own. And Silver, well, won't he have a fun time searching every single nook in cranny between the two worlds without truly being able to sense his friend?"

Goku frowned. "Well when you put it that way…"

"Sonic will come back only when he wants to, but not before then" Vegeta said, turning around. "If you try to find him and force him back, you're even more stupid than you have proven to be."

Vegeta took off into the air and flew away, dashing into the distance. Goku turned back to Bulma. "Do you think he's right? That we can't get Sonic back ourselves?"

Bulma shrugged. "Vegeta, he surprises me sometimes. He seems to balance out not understanding emotion with his intellect."

"So Sonic is beyond our reach..." Goku sighed. "We really can't snap him out of it ourselves."

"Sonic, he's, well, I'm not sure what to think of him anymore" Bulma admitted. "He's quite the mystery. When we first met him, he was overconfident, cheerful, and just a little arrogant. Always carefree. Lately, he's been more serious, and losing his overconfident edge a bit, but still keeping it. Now, he's nothing like that. It was like he was trying to be brave, but it was just a front he put on so that we couldn't see how he was really feeling… He's a shadow of his former self."

"...Yeah, you're right Bulma" Goku admitted. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do, then. I would go train, but Whis left forever ago, and hasn't been back since."

"There are other ways to train" Bulma noted. "I would say, 'stop training and go be with your family,' but after what went down recently, we need all the muscle we can get around here. I have a feeling that they aren't going to take this lying down."

* * *

 **?**

* * *

"Always the object of blame, it seems" Shadow muttered.

Shadow stood in a wasteland, snaked with canyons and what looked like enough stone to be 20 ground down mountains.

Kicking a rock out of his way, Shadow strolled through the debris. "I know it wasn't meant as real blame, but come on. Sonic knows that this sort of reaction could cost us, especially if our foes learned of it, yet he continues with it anyways."

Sticking his hand out, Shadow unleashed a wave of power, blowing away a pile of debris before him. "Of course, they are right. I shouldn't get too mad at Sonic, not when I myself have let emotions cloud my better judgement. It would be terrible for everyone if our enemies learned of his current state. They may just take advantage of that."

The stone cleared away, revealing what appeared to be fragmented stone rings, a dark green stone knk the center. "But, then again, I deliberately tried to do something destructive, rather than remove myself, like he is."

Shadow stood among the wreckage of the downed fleet of Dark Doom's Sky Fortress, christened the Sky Troops. "I do wonder what persuaded me to do something so destructive back then. Perhaps my desire for my old life pushed me, or mere confusion from the lack thereof made me weak… And I've been calling him the weak one."

Shadow picked up the fragment of the power core in his hands. "Maybe I've let my emotions cloud me over once more. Perhaps my judgement is tainted…" he said, crushing the gem in his hands, releasing a sparkling green powder, dusting back towards the ground.

Shadow jumped up into the air, coming to a stop on a large piece of an old fortress, placing him high above the desolation below. "After all, I can't very well blame anyone but myself for what I did to those soldiers after Maria passed…"

Shadow's eyes began to close as his mind revisited past events. However, before he could fully immerse himself in his memories, he felt something. A brush of cold on the wind, on a rather hot day. He sensed something's, _someone's,_ presence. Frowning as he sensed just what it was, he felt an anger enter his mind. "You're a fool to come here!" he growled.

A Chaos reaction began to take place beneath him, but Shadow was too fast. Darting down, he plunged straight through the fortress, slamming into something other than stone, and carrying out the other side. The entire structure behind him crumbled, but that didn't phase Shadow. Placing his foot on the figure beneath him, he smirked. "So, Gohan wasn't insane when he knew that name. You really _have_ found a way back out of the void."

Under both his foot and his power, the crystalline form of Mephiles the Dark was on the ground. Glowering up at Shadow, a dark fog began to form in his hands, but quicker than he could blink, Shadow stomped on his shoulder, then used his other foot to flip Mephiles' hand up and over, crashing down and detonating his own attack on himself. "Did you seriously think that I would not be able to notice you as soon as you came here?" Shadow asked. "Ever since Gohan said he'd met a figure known as Mephiles the Dark in Soleanna, I knew that sooner or later, you would find me."

"Very smart of you, Shadow" Mephiles said in the tone that even _sounded_ dark. "Much more than I would have expected from you."

"You never expected much from me" Shadow growled. Leaning back, but keeping him down with his foot, Shadow pointed his hand forward and sent three bursts of Chaos Energy forward. Each one curled into rings and hooked Mephiles' limbs to the ground behind him, immobilizing him. Stepping backwards, he stomped on the ground, fissures of yellow energy spilt forth, and a diamond-shaped chunk or stone lifted into the air.

"Vegeta taught me the trick to making energy cuffs" Shadow said. "I must thank him for that. It allowed me to keep you captured without any physical strain on myself."

"Hrrf, very clever, Shadow" Mephiles complemented again.

"What is this, did you come back to shower me with gratitude?" Shadow asked. "Sorry, pal, but flattery doesn't work on me. I thought as 'the consciousness of the beast' you would have known that. Also considering the fact that you've tried to kill me on several occasions."

Mephiles looked around at his restraints. "I see, this pose you have me in, revenge for showing you the vision of your future?"

"You mean that lie?" Shadow asked, remembering the purple cage that had him hanging, suspended. "You truly think that after I've devoted my life to saving the lives of everyone on that world, that I would up and let them capture me? I would either make them see reason, or not let them catch me if they tried."

"How naive" Mephiles scoffed. "You think-"

"I'm the naive one?" Shadow asked. "Who's the one that's completely immobilized?"

Frowning, Mephiles curled a finger, and a thin white beam went soaring out at Shadow. Smirking, shadow stuck his hand out, and the beam shattered against his hand.

"What?" Mephiles gasped.

"You were always a cowardly bastard" Shadow growled. "I can see the fear in your eyes right now. Just from learning how good of a fight you put up against Gohan in your reappearance, I could tell that you had grown stronger. However, you aren't the only one that can improve. That little trick you have, the energy beam that brings death right there? Not even a fraction of what you'd need to scratch me."

Shadow smirked and stepped back. "Throughout our previous battles, you mocked me, called me weak, and you would always seem to hold an edge. I suppose that you are an immortal, but an immortal from our world" Shadow chuckled. "One thing I've learned since coming here, we are a weak reality, compared to this one. Even if you could fuse together with Iblis again, I could beat you, right now. Being immortal doesn't mean invulnerable."

"What do you mean?" Mephiles growled. "That's exactly what it means."

"Who's naive now?" Shadow asked. "You may not die naturally, and you may be able to survive any assault from any being of our world, but that's just it. No one back there was powerful enough to stop you permanently. We have Gods of Destruction who could destroy the universe in an instant, and they're defeatable, _killable,_ if a powerful enough being fights them. And since coming here, I have gained so much power, even learned how to use the Master Emerald itself, to put me on a tier alongside beings of levels you wouldn't be able to conjure in your wildest dreams. If I were you, I would be shitting crystals right now."

Stepping forward, Shadow's hand glowed with Chaos Energy, and he pushed it into Mephiles' chest. Smoke began to rise, and Mephiles cringed in pain. "By the way, I thought crystals were supposed to be tougher than this. Maybe you're just a lot weaker than you thought. And you call yourself a deity. Hmmph" Shadow huffed, removing his hand. "You know, I'm sort of glad you showed up. Now, not only can I let off my steam in a productive way, I can make sure that I never have to worry about you again."

Mephiles glared at him. "You can try to finish me off, but you couldn't pull it off."

"I severely doubt that" Shadow snarled. A bright aura flashed around him, pulling on his inner Chaos powers, and his fur flared as he transformed into his Super Form. "I've had you under my complete control ever since you got here, and that was before I powered up. Now, try not to scream so much as I destroy you. Your prissy noises are offensive to my ears."

Shadow stuck his hand forward, gathering Chaos Energy in his hands. "You may have fooled me, and avoided me in the past, but you underestimate me now. And for that, you will pay dearly!"

"And you underestimate me" Mephiles spoke low.

"Hmmph" Super Shadow huffed. "Right, you're completely under my power, yet I underestimate you? I'd say I have the perfect read on you!"

Shadow blasted Chaos Spear forward, directly at Mephiles' head. Something changed in Mephiles' eyes, almost as if he were smiling. Suddenly, the stone Mephiles was tethered to flipped forward, placing Mephiles on the back, and leaving blank stone exposed. Shadow realized too late that Mephiles had been planning to break free.

The stone shattered, and a shade flew away, sinking into the shadow casted by a nearby pile of rubble.

"Still as cowardly as ever, Mephiles!" Super Shadow roared. "Running away so soon?"

"I haven't left yet, Shadow…" Mephiles' voice boomed all around him. "You aren't the only one who has been holding their power back.

Three shades hopped into the air, turning into the image of Mephiles. Before Shadow noticed them, each one had fired a power blast of dark energy down at Shadow. Each one connected and detonated, shrouding Shadow within smoke.

Shadow, of course, emerged from the haze unharmed. "You're right" he complemented. "That one actually kicked up a good breeze around me. Give it up, you're a total weakling without the power of Iblis within you!"

"Well then, perhaps I shall rejoin with my other half soon enough, and maybe then you will be silenced in a more _permanent_ nature" Mephiles' voice rang out.

"Nice try" Super Shadow scoffed. "Gohan may have been lucky enough to notice you, but I'm pretty sure that we would know if a massive rampaging beast of an inferno was in this world. And Iblis was always one to make his presence known."

"Heh, heheheh, _heheheheh_ " Mephiles laughed, a spine-shivering noise.

Shadow frowned. "Ok, NEVER, do that again."

"You may be right Shadow" Mephiles said. "Iblis may not be here. He may have been too big to fall through the crack in time and space. And perhaps I alone may not have power enough over these realities to bring him here. That is why, my fellow hedgehog, we have alliances."

"I happen to know that you aren't working alongside Eggman" Super Shadow stated. "Him and Nazo are the only ones capable of Chaos Control, and that's the only reaction that could get Iblis to you. And like they would help you become another dimension-devouring omnipresent entity to rule the very plane of reality they are trying to conquer."

"There are others, who have fingers laid on the control of the gears of time" Mephiles stated. "You haven't seen me before now, for the simple fact that I haven't been there. I've been displaced, and have met a very powerful being, with similar aims to mine. Do you truly think that I came here for a confrontation with you? This whole time, have I truly been the one under your control? I have gotten information out of you, that could be very beneficial to us."

"What?" Super Shadow asked. "I haven't spilled anything!"

"You've told me more than you know" Mephiles stated. "I part from you now, but you will see me again, that, you can be assured of."

"You aren't getting away that easily!" Shadow snarled, leaping up and looking around for Mephiles. Below him, every single shadow laid across the ground broiled alive, reaching up for Shadow, giant hands made of inky darkness. His leg was grasped. "Oh, one of your shadow beasts again?" With an outstretched hand, Shadow blasted the monster, disintegrating under the intense Chaos energy.

Out of the corner of his eye, a bright light shined. Twisting around, a ball of white energy ascended up into the air, shedding scores of particles. Flaring his energy orange, Shadow Boosted at the light, but found no substance within. The light flared up into the sky, and vanished.

Shadow landed on the ground. "That, maniacal, insane little mural gone wrong" he muttered. "There are no other beings in either one of our worlds with powers like he is talking about… Is there?"

Shadow sighed, fur fading to black. "I did what I did to Frieza, didn't I?" he asked to no one in particular. "Instead of finishing him off immediately, I played with my food, apparently spilled something worthwhile, and let him get away… I really need to work on that, don't I?"

Looking skyward, Shadow frowned. "Maybe I should contact Goku about this. He would know if there were anyone on that level of reality distortion that Mephiles could meet. Then again, he was probably bluffing. He's never mentioned anything like that before. Chaos Control was the only power that could distort time and space he had seen."

"Whether he was bluffing or not, though, there's one thing that I know now for sure" Shadow said. "Mephiles isn't gone for good. This isn't the last we'll see of him"

* * *

 **Planet Vegeta…**

* * *

"So, only 10 in all will be accompanying us?" Bardock asked.

King Vegeta nodded. "Yes. I hardly doubt that we need any more anyway. Between the two of us, one more for insurance would be plenty. However, after they went through the testing process, it would be wrong to deny them a chance to stack themselves up against a god, as has been promised to them."

"Hmmph" Bardock huffed.

"Is there something on your mind?" King Vegeta asked.

"It just seems really out of ordinary to throw everything we have at a backwater planet, especially one with as little to offer as the Earth" Bardock said. "Besides offering us few that can handle the power of the Gods and chance to fight an extremely powerful being, what is it that makes you desire to take the planet?"

King Vegeta stared into the distance. "To be honest, I am not sure of it myself. Something in my mind is telling me something is waiting there, something special that awaits the Saiyan race there."

"There's something waiting there alright" Bardock thought. "Not sure about how much it benefits the majority of the Saiyan race, but it gives me a reason for wanting to go."

King Vegeta looked at Bardock. "Your power has grown, Super Saiyan. Your base power now is far beyond what it was even when you transformed, back then, before me. Had we had Saiyans like you before, perhaps we would not have been taken down by Frieza."

"Maybe…" Bardock muttered, not revealing that he had seen the true terror of Frieza through his visions. He knew, maybe he could have handled Frieza, taken him out before he took on his true form, but if he had unleashed his full power, even as a Super Saiyan, he himself would have stood no chance.

Which made him wonder just how strong his son had to be to combat him. "Frieza, I hope that bastard is rotting in hell" Bardock thought. "Enslaving our entire race, only to blow us to bits when he grew fearful of our growth. When I go back, I will personally go down, find him, and show him how wrong he was to betray us like that."

"Ah, the fiery battle spirits are raging behind your eyes" King Vegeta laughed. "I can tell that you are as excited for this fight as any of us."

"Hmm?" Bardock asked. "Oh, right."

"Of course, you have an advantage over any of the rest of us" King Vegeta said. "You Super Saiyan transformation gives you an added bonus in your god state, wouldn't you agree."

"As a last resort" Bardock said. "Don't you remember what happened when I tried that earlier?"

"Yes, but craters can be filled" King Vegeta said dismissively. "That power has been unrivaled by any of my other soldiers. You could become my top warrior, the strongest one to ever walk Planet Vegeta!"

"Except for the fact that this God power is fleeting" Bardock pointed out. "Unless we always have a supply of 5 righteous Saiyans at our disposal, I won't be out taking on planets like Frieza's homeworld."

"What is a normal Super Saiyan not enough to deal with that trash?" King Vegeta scoffed.

"Maybe, maybe not" Bardock shrugged. "One thing I've learned since I awakened. Even the legendary power of the Super Saiyan still has its limits."

"I see…" King Vegeta said. "Perhaps you would be willing to demonstrate those limits to me one of these days."

"Yes, perhaps" Bardock nodded. "How long are the maintenance guys going to take with our ship?"

"They should have it ready within an hour" King Vegeta said. "Afterwards, we will go on to overcome the God of the Earth and take the planet for our own."

"'Take the planet…'" Bardock muttered. "Tell me, why exactly are we still after planets when we are no longer under Frieza's tyranny?"

"Hmm?" King Vegeta asked. "I suppose, that it is only for the gut feeling I have about this one. Besides the fact that this is our only failed mission, I wish to complete everything we started."

"Oh yeah? By complying with that bastard's final desires?" Bardock asked. "It would appear that the king doesn't have his head on straight with this one."

King Vegeta scowled. "Watch your tongue when addressing me" he growled. "Are you telling me that you do not wish to do battle with this deity?"

Bardock spat on the ground. "I just want to make sure that there's a brain in that hair" he said. "You wish to prove our superiority by doing what the ex-emperor of the universe wanted to do."

"...You obviously aren't grasping the picture here" King Vegeta said. "You should go along with this, and you will understand in due time."

"If you say-" Bardock began to say, before they were interrupted by an arriving Saiyan.

"Sir, the modifications to the Saiyan Starship are complete" he announced.

Bardock raised an eyebrow at the king. "Within an hour, eh?" he asked.

"Perhaps sooner that that" King Vegeta admitted. "I didn't expect such rapid work to be performed."

Bardock stood up. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Gather the Saiyans and let's get into the sky."

King Vegeta stared for a moment, then unleashed a booming laugh. "Your enthusiasm, I like it. Yes, let's gather up our chosen warriors. The Earth awaits!"

Bardock nodded. "Yes, the Earth awaits." In his head, he thought, "And Kakarot, I'm coming for you."

* * *

 **Blue Typhoon…**

* * *

"And there he goes…" Sonic muttered.

Staring out the window of the main deck, Sonic watched as Silver flew by, scanning the surface below. He had a hunch, that Silver was looking for him.

"Good thing that this thing is disguised as a mountain, I don't need the attention…" Sonic said. "Just another thing to thank Tails for, that I can't do anything back for him…"

Silver looked all over, but obviously couldn't find anything suspicious. He then flew off into the distance. "Why won't they just leave me alone?" Sonic asked. "Don't they get that I don't want to be found? The only person that could find me here is Tails, not even Knuckles would know about the cloaking device. And he's the only one I want to find me… I can't show my face until I can make everything up to him."

Sighing, Sonic stood up and looked out the window further, watching Silver as he disappeared into the distance. "They're relentless…" he said. "Why don't they give up? They must know that I don't want to be found by now, are they going to force me to come back and lounge around with them until the next catastrophe happens?"

Sonic pulled himself away from the window and walked back down the hall. Taking a few turns, he arrived at the galley. He grabbed a single granola bar, one of the only foods left on the ship, since they were good almost indefinitely. He knew he couldn't starve himself, so he ate a bit, just not much.

Sitting down, he unwrapped the bar and stuck it in his mouth, biting down hard. He looked off into space. "I can only imagine, if the others aren't with us, how they are feeling" he thought. "The last time we separated, and Chris found our world again, a year for him was a month for us. Who knows, maybe, back on the real Mobius, we've only been gone around ten days. Maybe it has been four months there. I sure hope that nothing happened to them, though. I hope I'm right, thinking that just parts of Mobius came over with us, and the rest is left intact."

Swallowing the crushed granola, he sighed. "I'll bet that Amy must be freaking out right now, she always does whenever she doesn't know where I am for more than an hour. Whether it's been months or days… And all the others, too. What I wouldn't give to be able to see any of them again. I'm always on the run, but when you _can't_ reach them any more, it get's you. Amy, Espio, Vector, heck, what I would do to even have a chat with Jet again. Just, anyone…"

Setting down his granola bar, Sonic suddenly wasn't the slightest bit hungry anymore. "Sure, I've got my friends in Knothole, but now, besides Shadow and Silver, they're all I have left. Tails and Knuckles, they'll be back soon, I hope."

Normally, after sitting still for so long, Sonic's legs would be almost vibrating from wanting to run, especially after weeks between a battleship and a cave. However, he felt as if the tendons had been removed from his legs, like he couldn't hardly put any pressure on them. For once, Sonic wasn't in the mood to go for a run.

Sighing, Sonic hopped down and walked back out to the bridge of the Blue Typhoon. Subconsciously, he ran his hand across the wall as he walked, almost as if he could feel the memories within them. He felt a dent in the wall, and remembered when Shadow had jumped aboard and given him quite the beating, of course, back when Shadow was an amnesiac and still much more powerful than him.

The sunlight slapped him in the face as he emerged into the bridge once more. The difference between artificial and natural light was quite noticeable, as he walked from harsh white fluorescents into soft yellow sunshine. Coming through the windows that looked like hillside.

The feeling of the warmth, coming from the sun made him feel sleepy. He'd found himself sleeping a lot lately, something he had almost never done. Even when he was sick, he was out running it off. But now, his body had slowed down to the point of being very non-active. Sitting down, Sonic leaned back up against the main console.

Sonic's body felt warm, as the sunlight kept coming down on him. It instilled a sense of drowsiness, almost shoving his eyelids shut. He let out one final breath as he slipped from the world of the conscious, not of relief, but of resignation. And then, his mind went blank.

* * *

 **Snake Way…**

* * *

"Tails, I think that you've misunderstood the length of this place, just a little bit" Knuckles commented.

"Yeah, I'm starting to agree with you" Tails admitted. "It's been almost a month, and we're not there yet."

Knuckles groaned as he sat down. "You would think that it's impossible to be sore here, but yet here we are. How long did Goku say it took him to reach the end the first time?"

"I don't even want to say…" Tails muttered. "Let's just say that we've been at this about a fifth as long as he has."

"It's a good thing we're faster, then!" Knuckles exclaimed. "I don't want this to take five months."

"Goku was fast, but we've been running with Sonic since the beginning" Tails said. "I don't think that it'll take us _that_ long to reach the end of this road. Of course, I thought we were close two weeks ago…"

"Hey, no problem" Knuckles said. "You couldn't have known how long this thing is, and you don't have any of your measuring or recording tech here with you to tell."

"Still, I shouldn't have underestimated when that Yemma guy said that this place was 'pretty damn long'" Tails said. "He wasn't kidding."

"Yeah, and I don't have two propeller tails to speed me along my merry way" Knuckles joked. "My own two feet are killing me, how are those tails of yours doing."

Tails reached back and rubbed them. "A little sore around the bases, but not bad" he admitted. "I may need new shoes soon though, the tips are burning off." He struck a thinking pose. "How do clothes even wear down here? How do we even have our old shoes here even?"

"You're asking me?" Knuckles asked. "This place isn't even a part of our world. It's a part of Goku's."

"It's weird to know that when someone dies in Goku's world, their spirit is teleported" Tails said. "Other World, after all, isn't an alternate dimension, according to Goku. He's actually teleported here, and those two gods flew here." Tails felt his head. "This is all so confusing, doesn't make any sense at all."

"A lot of stuff doesn't make sense" Knuckles shrugged. "I can fit a pile of crystal shards back together just by focusing, and you can fly in the air by flipping your tails around."

"More stuff that doesn't make sense, that we've just come to accept" Tails said. "Yeah, I guess I'll just let it go."

"Simpler lives are, actually, forget I said lives…" Knuckles laughed nervously.

Tails shrugged. "I don't know how to feel about these jokes…" he said. "On one hand, you have to be able to laugh at yourself, but _this_ might be, well, you know…"

"Yeah, I know" Knuckles said. "I'll try to stop. They were actually making me a bit uncomfortable too."

Tails sighed and let his tails fall flat, resting on his arms. "I wonder how the others are doing. Sonic, Shadow, Goku, Gohan, all of them."

"I'm sure they're doing fine" Knuckles said. "We'd know if they lost their battle, alright, so I'm guessing that they won. And I doubt that they'd attack again so soon. You remember when we took down Eggman on the ARK? He pretty much vanished from the face of the planet for a few months. I'm sure they are able to take it easy right now."

"Yeah, I guess you're right" Tails admitted. "I'm glad that they still won."

"Yeah…" Knuckles said. "The only thing I'm worried about is how they're taking us dying. Sonic will probably feel this, even if he doesn't show it. Shadow, well, he wasn't too close to us. But we made some good friends with Goku and his family and friends. They're probably pretty sad about us going too."

"Yeah…" Tails said. "I'm going to miss them, especially Sonic."

"I can't help but feel that they'd be offended to hear that, even if they knew exactly why" Knuckles said. "That's just one of those things."

"Yeah, I suppose so" Tails admitted. "But we have known Sonic about, well, a lifetime longer than we've known Goku and the others."

"True enough" Knuckles said. "Do you think that we might be able to make it back somehow?"

Tails shrugged. "I think Goku said that they once used the Dragonballs to wish back their Earth and everyone on it. Maybe they could wish us back if they could gather them. But, then again, we aren't from this world. What if the rules are different for us?"

"We're in their afterlife, aren't we?" Knuckles asked. "I feel like that's as good of a condition as any to allow us to come back if they tried."

Tails sighed. "So we might go back after all…"

"Hey, you almost sound disappointed" Knuckles said. "I can't imagine why you'd be downed by getting a chance to not be murdered anymore."

"It's nothing…" Tails said. "Listen Knuckles, let's get some rest, then we can keep running. Let's try to make it there as soon as possible."

"If I want my feet to recover completely, it's going to take another month" Knuckles grumbled. "But alright, let's lie down so we can go on."

"Right" Tails said.

Knuckles lied down on the path beside him, closing his eyes. Another thing that confused Tails. If they were just spirits here, then why did they need sleep? Just another thing he didn't understand about the afterlife.

But one thing he hoped he understood, was that anyone who had ever died, could be found here. "And I plan to find you" Tails whispered, quiet enough so Knuckles didn't hear, before rolling over himself and closing his eyes.

* * *

 **Capsule Corp…**

* * *

"No way, he's back?" Gohan asked.

"A bit weaker than you made him out to be…" Shadow commented, "But you were right, he's gotten a lot stronger. I've just surpassed him."

"Hmm…" Gohan thought. "I could've sworn that he went down when his was hit with Piccolo's Hellzone Grenade, but I guess he may have jumped through time again to survive."

"One thing I never understood…" Shadow said. "How is it that Mephiles can jump through time so easily, without even using Chaos Control. His powers, in that regard, are unparalleled."

"And he also said that he made an alliance with someone who can bend reality even more so than himself?" Gohan asked. "There's no one from your world that has this power?"

"If me and one of the others use Chaos Control together, we can open Time Gates, but that's about it" Shadow said. "Mephiles sounded like he was talking about controlled tearing through the dimensional walls to reach his timeline and reclaim Iblis. The results, of course, would be catastrophic."

"It sounds like it" Gohan said. "This creature, Solaris, that he turns into, when he fuses, he's completely invulnerable?"

"He can be stunned, briefly knocked out, but his body is completely invincible" Shadow said. "According to, Sonic, the only reason we beat him is because we stunned him long enough to allow himself to jump through time, and destroy Solaris before he became a true deity."

"But you guys were a lot weaker than some of us are, right?" Gohan asked. "If gods of this world can actually be destroyed, if, somehow, a being more powerful than them challenges them, then surely Solaris can too."

Shadow shook his head. "Solaris, he isn't just bearing the title of 'god' or 'deity.' Mephiles, Beerus, they are all but indestroyable, but can be destroyed. Solaris, he's a true god, in immortal, undying force of nature, never destroyable. It took three of us, using Chaos Control in ways that put unbelievable strain on us, attacking with all of our power, just to briefly stun him."

"How did you use Chaos Control to beat him?" Gohan asked.

"We fought him in three separate time periods, but linked ourselves together through Chaos, so that all of our attacks hit Solaris at the same time, but in different locations in time" Shadow explained. "It's way too complicated for me to even fully understand how we did it, but trust me, if Solaris came to be once more, then there would be no hope. His 'humble beginnings' don't exist in the current timeline, there would be no way to retreat through the timeline and stop him."

"Sounds bad" Gohan said. "Dad, do you have any thoughts?"

Goku had been standing in the corner, not saying anything. He looked up. "You say, that this Mephiles guy told you that he had joined up with someone, who could bend time. He also said that he hadn't been here?"

"Yeah, he must have been in hiding" Shadow said.

"Hmm…" Goku grunted. "What if he literally meant, _he hasn't been here?_ Like he hasn't existed here, hasn't been present in any form?"

"What are you talking about, Dad?" Gohan asked.

Goku stood up. "He was also talking about someone 'laying hands on the gears of time?'" he asked.

"He said something to that effect, yes" Shadow confirmed.

"And lastly, this is the most important part, Shadow" Goku said sternly. "He disappeared in a ball of white light, one that rose into the sky, and then disappeared?"

"Yeah, that's also correct" Shadow said.

Goku's expression turned dark. "Not good" he said, before dashing out the window.

"Hey, Dad, where are you going?" Gohan called, but it was no use. Goku was long gone.

"Do you think he has an idea about what's going on?" Shadow asked.

"No clue, but he definitely knows something" Gohan said. "I can still remember, Whis saying something about my dad and Vegeta having memories that they shouldn't have. What if they have something to do with what's going on?"

"There's always a chance" Shadow said. "But what are the odds, that whatever sort of memory he and Vegeta keep, if it was taken from the rest of you, that it has anything to do with that Mephiles is doing?"

* * *

 **Sky…**

* * *

"No, there are too many signs pointing at this to ignore it anymore" Goku said as he flew. "I've got to get into contact with Whis. He may know the only way to contact them. But if this Mephiles is teaming up, with _him,_ to bring forth an omnipotent god…"

Goku halted in the air. "Except I can't really get into contact with Whis, can I?" he asked. "Not directly. I have to call out to him, and hope that he sees it."

Taking in a deep breath, he yelled into the sky. "WHIS, TALK TO ME WHEN YOU CAN, WE HAVE BIG PROBLEMS, THE KIND YOU AND LORD BEERUS WILL CARE ABOUT!"

Goku took a deep breath again, regaining all of his lost oxygen. Frowning, he thought. "If I know his style, he won't let up. He never attacks the same period twice, but he doesn't let up, either. Something will happen, I just know it…"

He gasped. "No, he couldn't. That, that's crazy. Why, no, maybe…"

It all clicked together in Goku's head. Sonic's intense darkness, and glowing red eyes. The familiar black energy that he had felt. The suspicions shared between him, Vegeta, and Beerus and Whis. The two Saiyans who had crashed to the Earth, in full Saiyan tech…

It struck Goku, head on. "They're coming. I don't know how, I don't know why, but I have to warn the others" he realized. "It could be anytime now. I don't know when it will happen, but I know what will happen."

"What are you doing, talking to yourself, Kakarot?" a voice came behind him. Vegeta ascended through the air towards him. "I could here your yelling from miles away, what are you doing out here?"

"Vegeta!" Goku said. "I don't know how much time we have, but something's about to happen, something big!"

"And what would that be?" Vegeta asked. "I'm absolutely _dying_ to hear what you're thinking about."

"You won't be sarcastic much longer, Vegeta" Goku said darkly. "I've pieced it all together."

"Pieced all of what together?" Vegeta asked.

"That dark energy, the Saiyans who came to the Earth, all of it" Goku explained badly. "It didn't seem like anything at first, but now I realize. Vegeta, they're coming!"

"Wha- who's _they_?" Vegeta asked.

"The Saiyans" Goku said. "The Saiyans are coming."

* * *

 **Looks like Goku figured it out, eh? And, I bet you all thought that I had just thrown Mephiles in at the beginning of the story for a random fight, huh? Surprised to see that he's still around. Yeah, the plot is thickening around here. Mephiles returns, Goku realizes what plot is going on right now, and he also seems to realize just who's pulling the strings.**

 **Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. I'm doing my best to make this more than just another surface-level story, by trying to add some deep, early plot to it (why did Elder Kai vaguely recognize the names of Sonic and his friends?). Mephiles barely escapes his fight with Gohan, sending him to a place where he encounters a new ally. Bardock and the King have both attained much greater strength, and are about to set out. Goku, as the God of the Earth, is their main target. And more to come.**

 **\- In the meantime, I'll leave you with a few questions to sit with and gnaw on.**

 **\- Who exactly has Mephiles teamed up with?**

 **\- What will happen to the others, without Sonic, one of the 4 strongest warriors on the planet, fighting a dozen gods?**

 **\- What is it exactly that has Tails so hesitant about returning?**

 **\- And, finally, this one is a bit different. How do you feel, learning that what's happened with their two worlds wasn't a full merger? That many locations from Mobius have crossed over, but much of it lies intact, somewhere else?**

 **And with that, I think that things are all wrapped up here. I will _always_ take a review, and until next time, cya!**


	33. Goku had a Good Idea?

**Sky…**

* * *

"That's, that's completely insane!" Vegeta stuttered.

The two Saiyans, Goku and Vegeta, hovered in the sky. After Goku had his revelation, he did his best to explain how everything linked together to Vegeta.

"I know how it sounds" Goku said. "But-"

"But it all fits!" Vegeta realized. "Two fully geared up Saiyans, came to Earth. Obviously, since the Earth is still here, they would mark it as a failed mission. And not knowing whether or not they were still under Frieza's control, they would continue work." Then it hit him. "Frieza, that bastard. I'll bet good money that _he_ was the one who used the Dragon Balls. He must be trying to use the Saiyans to take over the planet. Perhaps he was planning on them weakening us, or perhaps he was counting on us not wanting to fight our own kind."

"He couldn't be counting on them beating us" Goku said. "They may be Saiyans, but even if they were all Super Saiyans, they wouldn't stand a chance against up with Super Saiyan Blue on our side."

"They could always destroy the planet from the atmosphere" Vegeta said. "That wouldn't even give us a chance unless we saw them coming. But I do not feel as if that would be a Saiyan move. No, the thrill of facing off against an opponent who made two elites look like paper dolls, that would be too great to pass up."

"But then, why?" Goku asked. "Just a random wish to infuriate us and keep us from making _our_ wish?"

"Not Frieza's style" Vegeta said. "He has something at work, something he believes has a good shot at working. The only question, is what?"

"I'm at a loss" Goku admitted.

"And with that, we are back to normal" Vegeta replied.

"Hey!" Goku protested.

Vegeta smirked. "We should warn the others, even if you are a complete loon. It makes enough sense to me, and if that's the case, it may warrant concern."

"'Loon?'" Goku asked.

"The Saiyans could attack at any time" Vegeta said. "Those two attacked a little over three weeks ago. Top-tier Saiyan spaceships could close the distance in little more than a week."

"But didn't it take you and Nappa almost a year to reach here?" Goku asked.

"We were much further away than Planet Vegeta, and even then, we were left with garbage pods after the explosion" Vegeta said. "If they are truly brought back, then they will have access to their much more powerful ships."

"If they could be here that soon, then we'd better really get moving!" Goku exclaimed. What if they were just passing by Mars or something right now?"

"I doubt that they'd be that close, but I agree" Vegeta said. "Let's warn the others. The Saiyans may not be on our level, but they will be much stronger than the robots and scumbag soldiers they had to deal with when Frieza invaded."

Goku nodded. "If we don't let them know what's up, something serious could happen" he said.

Vegeta looked at Goku out of the corner of his eye. "Indeed, something terrible could happen to the uninformed."

"That, that's what I just said" Goku said, puzzled.

"Great galaxies, Kakarot, sometimes I wonder how you've survived with your level of intellect" Vegeta spat. "What'll happen to blue boy when the next invasion begins, huh?"

Goku's eyes narrowed. "Shoot, that's right. Sonic's still vanished from the face of the planet, and we have no idea how to find him."

"I may not be supportive of his current attitude" Vegeta said. "But he did save us all from that bastard. The least we should do is try to keep him alive."

"But how are we supposed to help him if he's literally impossible to find?" Goku asked.

"What about the scouter that Bulma made?" Vegeta asked. "Perchance we can find him with that?"

"Sonic doesn't exert power unless he's fighting" Goku noted. "I don't understand how it works for him, but he might as well be a corpse for all I can read off him unless he's battling for his life."

"Damn" Vegeta swore. "That would mean, even if he does get picked up by the scouter, he'd probably be about as easy to pick out as any human on the planet. Has Shadow tried to pick him out with his Chaos Sense again?"

"No dice there" Goku shot it down. "Face it Vegeta. I want to find Sonic more than you do, but we've tried everything. He's not going to be found, not unless he wants to be."

Vegeta gritted his teeth. "Well if we don't have a way to do that, then why are we still wasting time here, when we should be preparing those who _aren't_ being morons?"

Goku glared at Vegeta. "You know, sometimes your attitude really stinks. I've heard of princes being spoiled but-YAH!" he shouted, narrowly evading a large blast of energy.

Vegeta's hand was outstretched. "Let's not go there, Kakarot" he said with a venomous voice. Lowering his arm, he turned around. "I'm going to share this with the others. Come or don't."

Shaking off the feeling of the surprise of Vegeta's attack, Goku righted himself in the air. "Geez Vegeta, you've got to reign in that temper of your" he thought to himself as he took off after Vegeta.

Ahead of him, Vegeta looked back at Goku and frowned. "Kakarot, you may be one loopy Saiyan, but if you hadn't brought that idea to the table, we could have been taken in a fell swoop by the Saiyans coming here. If his, positively _insane_ theory turns out to be accurate, I would not only owe Sonic for saving us from Frieza, but _Kakarot_ for warning us about the Saiyans! I hate being in debt!"

* * *

 **Space…**

* * *

"Sir, we are currently twenty-two hours from the Earth!"

"Thank you, Nio" King Vegeta nodded, dismissing him.

The Saiyan saluted and walked away. Bardock glanced over at the King. "Two days to reach the Earth? I wish my team had got this kind of tech when we went on missions."

"Classes were quite the judgemental thing, in our prior days" King Vegeta admitted. "As lower-class soldiers, you were suited with our, shall we say, 'hand-me-down' gear."

"Hmmph" Bardock huffed. "Classes were a bloodline system. Those of royal blood such as yourself were promoted to the top, while the lesser-known were thrown in the garbage. Should have had that revelation earlier, I say. You've seen it from me. Even a lower level can surpass an elite, should he put himself to the grindstone."

"First hand knowledge" King Vegeta laughed.

Bardock leaned back. "You know, what evidence do we have that our newly achieved transformation will defeat this god of the Earth? It would be quite anticlimactic if we went there, all confident, only to be slaughtered at once. It did not appear as if he took kindly to invaders on his world."

"Who cares?" King Vegeta asked. "What is a Saiyan that runs from a fight that appears impossible?"

"Hey, fair enough" Bardock laughed. "After all, that's the whole point here. We were already dead once, we know our way around if it goes wrong."

"That, of course, doesn't mean we aim for death" King Vegeta said. "Let us give our adversary a good time."

"Heh heh, yeah" Bardock chuckled. He closed his eyes. "And once we're free to go around as we please, Kakarot, I will find you" he thought. "I never was a father to you before, unlike I was with Raditz. Perhaps I will have the chance to make things up now."

* * *

 **Capsule Corp…**

* * *

"What?!" Bulma shouted. "Saiyans!? More of them!?"

"It sounds positively insane" Vegeta said, glancing at Goku. "However, the reasons Kakarot put up, warranted, considering it."

"I think that this may have been Frieza's move" Goku explained. "Maybe Frieza wanted to get the Saiyans to fight us for him. Remember when the Dragon Balls were used a few weeks ago? That could have been Frieza wishing them back. Then, if Frieza had a way to contact them, they'd fear Frieza too much to ignore an order. The only thing that I can't figure out, is why did Frieza think that they'd be an effective tool for defeating us?"

"Hmm…" Bulma thought out loud. "Perhaps he's waiting for them to get here, then he'll take them hostage and try to get Vegeta to fight for him" she offered.

"What?!" Vegeta spat.

"Just an idea" Bulma shrugged. "With how much you care about Saiyan ancestry, perhaps Frieza thought it would work to his advantage. If he thought that the threat of him killing them again would bend you to his will."

"While it is true that I would care about him murdering my people once more…" Vegeta said. "I would not let him use me with a threat like that. He used to control me by letting my father's life hang in the balance, but I'm not so naive anymore. That line of thinking is a waste here."

"Either way, Bulma, where are the others? Gohan, Piccolo, Tien, Krillin, any of them? They need to be warned of what's coming" Goku stressed.

"Hold on" Bulma said. "I thought that this was just a hunch. All the evidence is merely circumstantial."

"Bulma, I can't explain it, but I know this. I know what's about to happen" Goku tried to get across. "It's, I know it sounds insane, but you just have to believe me!"

Bulma looked over at Vegeta. "And you believe this theory of his?" she asked.

Begrudgingly, Vegeta nodded. "It offers a sense of logic to it. Not that it itself is sensical in any way, but considering Frieza and his rather, unorthodox methods, and surprisingly high intellect for space trash, this does sound like something he would do, especially now that he has warmed up to the idea of cooperation with others to get what he wants."

"I see…" Bulma said. "I can get in touch with most everyone for you guys. Goku, you should let your family know, though. Gohan has started training with Piccolo again, so he may be willing to fight them off. Goten shouldn't jump in though, he could get hurt."

"Yeah, good idea, Bulma" Goku nodded. "But what about Gotenks?"

"And if they defuse mid-battle because they get carried away as Super Saiyan 3s?" Bulma asked. "We don't know if they got their little revival boost if they were brought back to life, for all we know, they could be as powerful as Frieza was back in the day. Even Krillin could help fight off some of the Saiyans, because he has the experience. Goten and Trunks though..."

"That is a good point" Goku noted. "How many of the Dragonballs do the two have yet?"

"Just two to go" Bulma said. "And I'd say that they should finish up. If one of them get destroyed, we'd be screwed."

"Yeah…" Goku said.

Bulma looked at Goku with an analyzing look. "You're thinking about Sonic, if one of the Saiyans find him" she said.

"I know that he could hold his own…" Goku said. "If he were trying. Chances are, though, right now, he wouldn't care, one way or another."

"I sure hope that you're wrong, Goku" Bulma said. "We don't need another one of us heading up to Yemma."

"Yeah, no kidding…" Goku said. "Hey, wait, that's it! Yemma!"

"Huh, what?" Bulma asked.

"What are you blabbering on about now, Kakarot?" Vegeta asked.

"Well, not just Yemma, but King Kai too" Goku said. "Maybe we can ask King Kai if he can check with Yemma so we can figure out how Tails and Knuckles are fairing!"

"Hey, why didn't we think of that sooner!" Bulma exclaimed. "King Kai can even let us talk to them if he can find them. Maybe that would help Sonic out of hiding."

"Yeah, but the only thing is, if we are having trouble even sensing energy, then how are his telepathic messages supposed to get through to us?" Vegeta asked. "Aren't they both similar?"

"Maybe, but maybe not" Goku said. "King Kai's never had anything be able to block his communications before. Only…"

"Only what?" Vegeta asked.

Goku chuckled sheepishly. "He may still be mad at me for that hole I punched through his world when I sparred with Beerus" he said.

Vegeta and Bulma facepalmed in synchronicity.

* * *

 **The Great Forest…**

* * *

"Come on, come at me like you mean it!" Shadow commanded.

"HYAH!" Silver cried, striking out at Shadow, body glowing green with power.

Shadow smirked and leaned back, Silver sailing over his head, before turning around and blasting a pulse of Chaos Energy forward, and invisible force rushing through the air. Silver turned around in shock, only to be slammed into a tree by the force.

Sliding to the ground, Silver let out a gasp. "Why didn't my powers extend more to fighting?" he asked. "Psychokinesis doesn't work very well, if at all on living beings. I really got shafted with my hidden powers."

Shadow landed gently on the ground in front of him. "You just have to learn how to utilize it to your advantage" he said.

"Easy for you to say" Silver complained. "You were basically built for fighting. My "fighting" came from survival instincts."

"Then why did you ask for a sparring match?" Shadow asked.

Silver pushed himself up. "Because the next time there's a crisis like this, I want to be able to actually do something without a large amount of loose matter nearby to use."

Shadow studied Silver. "You realize that, according to that purple leprechaun, your powers were increased to almost indescribable levels. Did you crush a ship, then fling that ship at another ship?"

"Yeah, but again, loose matter" Silver pointed out.

"Have you put your enhanced control to the test?" Shadow asked. "What if you pulled pillars of stone from the earth and controlled them to act like staffs?"

Silver raised his eyebrows. "Doesn't that sound like something out of an anime?" he asked.

"Doesn't everything we do?" Shadow countered.

"Fair enough" Silver said. He got into another stance. "Ok, I'll use everything around me to my advantage. Come at me again, got it?"

Shadow cracked his neck. "Right. Ready when you are."

The veins in Silver's hands began to glow cyan. "Let's rumble" he said.

"Hmmph" Shadow grunted, Spin Dashing at Silver.

"Rrraagh!" Silver shouted, and the ground before him began to shake.

The air in between the two distorted, then an orange figure materialized. Stepping down, Goku looked up. "The Fores-WAH?!"

Shadow crashed straight into Goku at lightning speed, and he was knocked flying. As he flew back, a slab of stone erupted from the ground. Goku crashed into it, cracking it, before it crashed down on top of him.

Shadow and Silver both froze in place. "Goku?" they asked hesitantly.

Goku stood up from the wreckage, rubbing his head gingerly. "You know, this feels all too much like the first time you guys warped in on us while we were practicing. Were you trying to get back at me?"

Silver stepped forward and helped Goku up. "No, honestly, it was just an accident" he said.

As Goku stood up, he looked around. Shadow stepped forward. "Alright, whatever happened to your teleporting thing not working?"

"The forest is really close to West City, and you were exerting energy" Goku said. "If your close or powerful, I can sense you. Otherwise, no dice."

"Hmm, I see" Shadow said. "What brings you here anyways?"

"For a moment, I thought that it might be Gohan and Piccolo out here" Goku said. "But I needed to see you two as well."

"What about?" Silver asked.

"Well, we've got another fight on our hands" Goku said.

Shadow's fur bursted yellow. "Tell me where, and I'll start busting heads" he declared.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up, Shadow" Goku waved his hands. "It's not here yet, but it's coming."

Shadow's fur faded as quickly as it had lit up. "Did you get a message or something" he asked.

"Well, not exactly" Goku admitted. "Shadow, are you still as battle-ready as you were a month ago, we could really use your help."

"Are you joking?" Shadow chuckled. "I am the Ultimate Life Form, I'm always prepared for battle."

"Good" Goku nodded.

"Hey, what about me?" Silver asked. "I can fight."

Goku looked down at Silver. "But, why weren't you fighting against Frieza during that battle?" he asked.

Silver stumbled. "Come on!" he complained. "I'm no weakling. My body just isn't used to Chaos Energy, I honestly couldn't even use that form. But I've been practicing with Shadow on that."

"Oh, that's good to hear" Goku admitted. "I'm not sure how many enemies we'll be facing this time, or on what level they'll be at. We could really use all hands on deck."

"Yeah!" Silver cheered, slamming his fists together. "Great, it's the perfect opportunity!"

"Huh? For what, Silver?" Goku asked.

"To get stronger" Silver said. "If I want to reach my goal, then I have to get as strong as I can."

"You've never mentioned a goal before, Silver" Shadow noted. "What exactly are you training for?"

"Oh, yeah…" Silver chuckled. "It's just, if we ever get our worlds straightened out, then I have something that I need to do when I get back home."

"You mean back to that flaming hell?" Shadow asked. "Why are you set on heading back?"

"I've got some unfinished business there" Silver admitted. "Now that I'm more powerful and can use Chaos Control, I feel like I can right something that went wrong."

"I see…" Shadow said. He turned to Goku. "So, what exactly are we up against?"

"Saiyans" Goku said. "Who knows how many."

"But, whatever happened to you two being the only ones left?" Shadow asked. "It doesn't seem very likely that there are enough left out there to be a threat."

"I'm sure of it" Goku said. "I'll explain why later, but right now, I have to go let the others know too. Maybe if we gather again, I can explain it."

"Hmm, ok" Shadow said. "We will be staying here in the forest for the time being. We feel like, being in nature right now."

"Alright, got it" Goku nodded. He closed his eyes, his face tightening as he felt out for energy. "Darn, Piccolo and Gohan aren't emitting enough power for me to find them. I guess that it's time to do this the old-fashioned way."

Slowly, Goku's feet left the down. Waving down at them as he lifted up towards the treetops, he called out "Don't hurt yourselves trai-GAH!"

Goku's head collided with a particularly thick branch. Shadow and Silver both flinched and looked away. "That poor guy…" Silver commented.

"Maybe we're bad luck charms for him" Shadow shrugged.

Goku stumbled a bit in the air, clutching the top of his head. "Yeow" he muttered. "Why me?" Rubbing the spot gingerly, and turned in the air, this time watching where he was going.

As Goku left the canopy, Shadow chuckled. "Why is one of the strongest people in the cosmos so darn goofy?" he wondered.

"Everyone has their eccentricities" Silver pointed out.

"Fair enough" Shadow admitted. Raising his hands, he looked Silver dead in the eye. "So, now that we are distraction free…"

The turquoise flare reignited around Silver. "Yeah…" he said. Putting his hands together, energy began to react within, and a ball of clear green energy began to form. "Are you prepared this time?"

Shadow's hands began to flash red. Placing them together, akin to Silver, a solid blast began to form from the overlapping power. "Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing" he said.

"Well, let's see who deserved it more" Silver demanded, thrusting his hands forward, unleashing a powerful pulse of Psychokinetic power.

"Hmmph, as if I didn't already know the outcome" Shadow smirked, pushing forward, a solid red sphere, crackling with Chaos power.

The two blazed at each other with blinding speed, clashing, sending storms of multicolored sparks into the air.

* * *

 **Sky…**

* * *

"Geez, those two are going at it like me and Gohan did, back when we were training for the Cell Games" Goku said. "It's kind of crazy, how far they've come."

As he dashed through the sky, a burst of light flashed through the air, and his hair flared up. Pouring on the extra speed as a Super Saiyan, he sped into the distance. "Let's see… I still need to tell Gohan and Piccolo, Bulma said that she could probably call up the others… I feel like I'm forgetting something else though."

Thinking as he flew, he realized something. "Of course, Piccolo would probably have taken Gohan to train at the Lookout. Why didn't I think of that sooner?"

Halting in the air, he turned around. "Let's see, the Lookout, it's, West? Or East of West City? Gah, it took me too long to remember where everything was before everything got shuffled around by this whole thing."

"Ok, focus, you" SSJ Goku told himself. "The last time Piccolo and Dende went back to the lookout, they went, the same direction Capsule Corp's main entrance was facing. So that means…" he thought hard. "There!" he declared, pointing off into the distance. Golden aura flaring up, he vanished from the area in nearly an instant.

* * *

 **Neo-Eggmanland…**

* * *

"Are you so confident about your plan now, Frieza?" Nazo questioned. "It has been approximately a month since you made that little wish of yours, and all we get are two lone warriors, easily dispatched!"

"End the venom in your voice right now" Frieza demanded. "You forget, my second wish was to make sure that the King himself would find a way to conquer the planet for us."

"And what if a revolt were to take place, Saiyans refusing to lose their lives over a single solitary rock in the far reaches of space?" Nazo asked. "Your precious plan wouldn't be so effective if the one you spearheaded it upon were to not be there to drive them."

"Hmmph, you do not understand" Frieza laughed. "Saiyans determine their rank by not only blood, but the power that bloodline contains. Should the putrid monkey have continued living on that rock and became as he is today, I am quite sure he would be the ruled of those pathetic apes."

"So you are saying that the King is supposedly the strongest of them all?" Nazo asked.

Frieza shrugged. "The King was a powerful monkey, but a monkey nonetheless. No, there is an exception. A single Saiyan…" Frieza travelled through time in his mind, remembering the final moments of the planet. A lone Saiyan, daring to confront him, and having his foolishness proved right before him. "There are those that have as great of a power as the King does, but do not make themselves known."

"Whatever" Nazo snorted. "I hope you realize how well I deal with complete failure. We lost the element of surprise last time, because those miserable hedgehogs won through a fluke. However, this time, everything falls on your planning. Should everything fail, it will be on your head."

"You could attempt to make it so" Frieza snorted. "However, I severely doubt that you could make me deliv-"

Frieza's voice was cut off when Nazo gripped him by the throat. "Do you want to know the reason that that fellow Bojack, and those annoying Ginyus, are no longer around?" Twisting, he slammed Frieza into the ground. "They doubted my power. They told me to hit the road, so I scheduled the tickets in their name. Never forget, with how powerful you've become, I was the one who brought you to that peak. However strong you get, I will always be over you. _I_ am the strongest being of them all!"

Spitting on Frieza, Nazo twisted on the spot, cloaked in darkness, and vanished into thin air, leaving Frieza lying on the ground, stunned. Standing up, he glared at the spot where his tutor had stood. "Hmmph, he must have been keeping his true powers hidden" he muttered raspily. "That demon must be holding out on us. Perhaps there is more to him than meets the eye."

* * *

 **Mount Pazou (Next Morning)...**

* * *

"Alright Goku, Bulma said for us all to get over here bright and early" Krillin yawned. "She said you had some sort of crazy theory. I hope it was worth losing sleep over."

The sun was barely rising over the tips of the mountaintops, casting an early dawn glow over the fields near Goku's family's mountain home, where, there was a surprisingly large gathering taking place.

"Grow up, Krillin" 18 muttered. "You would think that you've never lost an hour of rest before."

"Hey, come on, guys, let's not get into an argument" Yamcha tried to calm the two down.

18 glared straight into Yamcha's eyes. "My databanks remember Gero once pierced straight through your torso with his bare hand. Care to relive that experience?"

Yamcha flinched, hands cupping the spot where he still had the scar, beneath his gi. "N-No ma'am" he stuttered.

Goku sighed and scratched his head. "Looks like I'm going to have trouble reining them in this morning" he said resignedly.

"Don't you think that you should actually try getting their attention first?" Chi-Chi asked. "This is a pretty big deal, they need to know."

"Excuse you…" Bulma said, "But did you just say something Saiyan related is a big deal?"

"I know, crazy huh?" Chi-Chi laughed.

"So, _disrespectful_ " Vegeta snarled under his breath to Goku. "Kakarot, why did we marry these women if they are such racists to our noble ancestry."

"Vegeta, most humans don't have to deal with their spouses flying off twice a day to go to a fight that could determine the fate of the planet or the life of themselves" Gohan pointed out.

"They should have known what they were getting into" Vegeta growled.

"Who are you to talk about racists, when you called me a 'green insect,' Vegeta?" Piccolo asked.

"I, I'm not that man anymore" Vegeta muttered.

"Hey, did you catch that?" Gohan asked Piccolo. "You may be onto something, you almost got Vegeta to shut up."

"Why you little-" Vegeta snarled, turning and getting in Gohan's face, hair flaring blonde.

"Guys-" Goku tried to get everyone's attention, but to no avail. The only ones still listening were Shadow, Silver, Chi-Chi, Bulma, and Goten.

"No one, _ever,_ tells me to shut up" SSJ Vegeta demanded. "Especially not disgraces to the name of the Saiyans such as yourself. You're just a bookworm, not a warrior with pride. Why haven't you attained Super Saiyan Blue, if you were ahead of us even as a child?"

"Unlike you, I couldn't just up and abandon my family for months just to go train with some deity" Gohan stated, not backing down from Vegeta. "If we hadn't managed to get that message to you, you're whole family would be dead. Not that you did much, anyways, you were mostly just a punching bag to buy time."

Vegeta reacted instantly, throwing a powerful blow at Gohan. Crossing his arms, Gohan absorbed the majority of the attack, but was sent skating back several meters. His forearms smoking, Gohan lowered them, and looked back at Vegeta with a fire burning in his eyes.

"Oh come on" Goku complained.

"Gohan!" Videl yelled, running for him.

Gohan twisted his head towards Videl. "Stay back, Videl, I can handle myself!" he assured her.

As Videl stopped in her tracks, Gohan looked back at Vegeta. "Vegeta thinks he can push me around, he doesn't know what I've been doing."

"What, reading up on the history of martial arts?" SSJ Vegeta laughed. "Theory only does so much good."

"Why study, when I have the best teacher?" Gohan smirked, nodding at Piccolo.

"What, a Saiyan undergoing Namek training?" SSJ Vegeta scowled. "You really are a disgrace."

"I'll show you what 'Namek training' can really do!" Gohan shouted, a wave of power rippling across the field.

A fierce light shrouded Gohan, flaring into existence with an intensity beyond anything he had put out before. The ground began to tremor with the power he was outputting, and his hair began to glow with such power that it appeared pure white.

Gohan began to turn into a yellow silhouette, which seemed to grow larger rapidly. Leaving almost as soon as it came, Gohan stared at Vegeta with a look that sent chills even down the Saiyan Prince's spine. Power seemed to emanate from his eyes, without eyebrows. A frame of jagged blonde hair sped down his back, ending just past his hips.

"So Vegeta, still think I'm a weakling?" he asked, his voice deeper and gruffer before.

"What the-, just what kind of training did you put him through?" SSJ Vegeta sputtered, looking at Piccolo.

"Heh, you didn't know me back in the day…" Piccolo chuckled. "I used to be a Demon King. I can invent some pretty effective, yet brutal training regimes. Back before I trained him, even when he tapped into his powers, his power barely exceeded Raditz. Of course, then you saw him when you are baldy showed up here."

"Gohan, you reached, Super Saiyan 3?" Goku asked, almost completely forgetting about the news he had to share.

Gohan smirked, looking at his dad. "Yeah, proud of me?" he asked. "I may have lost my easy access to my ultimate power, so I went for the next level. I'm not sure if I'll ever catch up to your guys' Super Saiyan Blue, but don't count me out of the race just yet."

"Man, and I thought you reached the peak of badassery when you showed up to pound Buu it bits" Tien chuckled. "Way to go, little man."

Grinning at the comment, Gohan stared Vegeta down. "So, care to try and order me around like some slave again?" SSJ3 Gohan asked.

"Oh, do you really want to go there?" SSJ Vegeta asked, opening his hand and aiming it forward. Energy began to congeal into a sphere, rapidly growing.

"Yes, I think I do" Gohan responded coolly, placing his hands behind them, cupping them around a bright white light.

Tremors began to run through the ground, prompting almost everyone to take flight into the air. Goku grabbed Chi-Chi, and Trunks carried his mother. Shadow's boots kicked in, and Silver levitated with Psychokinesis. Shadow looked over to the floating Videl. "You can fly?" he asked. "I've never seen you fight."

"Gohan taught me how to fly and use my energy" Videl explained. "Of course, I didn't know how strong he was back then…"

"Hey, don't you have anything to say to Gohan about this fight he's getting into?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Not really, Vegeta instigated, and Gohan's not backing down" Videl smiled. "He's just being courageous."

"Uh, well, when you put it that way, I guess I don't either" Chi-Chi realized.

White and blue lights clashed brilliantly from the energies the two were exerting, sparking the air alight. "You know, Vegeta, it's not too late to back down" SSJ3 Gohan shouted.

"In your dreams!" SSJ Vegeta roared back. "I'm still leagues above you! I don't even need to ascend past this form to put you in your place!"

"Fine, then you asked for it!" Gohan shot back. "Ka, Me, Ha, Me..!"

"Hmmph, the same to you!" Vegeta roared. "Big Bang..!"

"HEY!"

A booming voice rang through the field, ringing in everyone's ears. It was enough to even disconcert the brawling Saiyans. Gohan's charged Kamehameha wave faded, and Vegeta stumbled forward, the Big Bang Attack flying off his hand, up into the air, then fell towards the ground.

"That's not good" Tien muttered, dashing down beneath the falling sphere. Aiming at the blast through his hands, he focused his energy. "TRI BEAM, HAH!"

A huge storm of energy burst forth from Tien's hands, meeting the Big Bang Attack in the air. An explosive collision occurred, and Vegeta's attack detonated in the air, buffeting everyone around.

Yamcha looked down. "Good job on the quick thinking there, Tien."

"Yeah, thanks Yamcha" Tien huffed out. "It's been a while since I put that much power into the Tri Beam. Hoping not to have to do that again for a while" he said the last part while glaring at Vegeta.

Ignoring him, Vegeta looked up at the others, who were descending now that the danger had passed. Vegeta's glow faded, hair phasing from blonde to black. Gohan let out a deep breath, and with a bright flash of light, reverted to his normal self, stumbling slightly.

Looking around, Vegeta frowned. "Now, who was the one that yelled at us and almost made me level this place for miles around?" he asked. "Was it you, Kakarot?"

"No, it wasn't me" Goku said. "I haven't been successful in getting your guys' attention yet, anyways."

"Hmmph, fine, then who was it?" Vegeta huffed.

"That would be, _me_ " a voice rang out through the group.

Shadow reached up and scratched his ear. "Great, it's those damn voices in my head again" he muttered.

"No, that's not just a voice in your head" Goku said, smiling. "King Kai, it's great to hear from you again!"

"Wish I could say the same, but my planet-cleaning bill speaks to differ" King Kai sighed.

"There are planet cleaners in Otherworld?" Goku asked.

" _It's a figure of speech!_ " King Kai shouted. "But I didn't make the call just to talk to you about my planet. Goku, the Earth is in a heap of trouble, and it's coming fast."

"What else is new?" Vegeta asked. "With the likes of Nazo and Frieza living here, of course the planet's in danger."

"What, Frieza?" King Kai asked. "And who in the heck is Nazo?"

"You've really been out of the loop, old man" Vegeta sneered. "Exactly how long has it been since you've taken a look at this planet."

"It's been difficult, something was blocking my vision" King Kai said. "My vision of the planet Earth was hazy at best."

"And, if you've been having so much trouble previous to now, what allowed you through this time?" Vegeta asked.

"To be honest, no clue" King Kai admitted. "Maybe this motivation was just what I needed to break through. But can we stop deterring from the subject, we have important matters to discuss."

Krillin looked at Goku. "Hey, you had something important to tell us too, right Goku?" he asked.

"I've been trying to tell you guys that for what feels like forever now…" Goku muttered.

"Can it, Goku, whatever you have to say can wait" King Kai said. "What I've found out is bound to be _much_ bigger."

"I'm not so sure about-" Goku began to said.

"Listen up, fellas, at this very moment, there is a spaceship currently entering the borders of your solar system" King Kai explained. "And you will never guess who's riding on it."

"Saiyans?" Goku asked.

"..." King Kai went silent.

"Wait, wait, wait, Saiyans?" Yamcha asked.

"But I thought that you and Vegeta were the only ones left!" Krillin exclaimed.

"There were some other remnants of our race out there" Vegeta said. "Paragus and Broly, for example, as well as my brother. You also mentioned once encountering a Saiyan called Turles. We are not many, but we still exist, spaced throughout the cosmos."

"But none of them are on this ship" King Kai said. "Goku, I'm not sure how you figured it out, but you're right. A fully-fledged armada of Saiyan warriors are on their way here, a course straight for Earth."

"Wait wait wait, hold up" Krillin said. "Let's say that there is even a small armada of Saiyans still out there. Why would they be coming to Earth?"

"Kakarot had this idea" Vegeta said. "He predicted the Saiyans coming. For once, it wasn't just an idiot's rambling. He believes, and… I do, too" he said begrudgingly, "That the Saiyans, if they were revived, would still hold a fear of Frieza, as they do not know whether or not his is still around. Under that fear, they may continue working, until they are sure of his condition. Obviously, they would see that the Planet Earth is still intact, thus why those two Saiyans showed up a few weeks ago. When they were beaten, they knew that they'd need more power to win here. That must be what they're coming for, to take the planet in force."

"But that doesn't matter!" Yamcha realized. "We have Goku and Vegeta on our side. Each one of them is like a billion Saiyans. The entire race could come at us and they'd go down in an instant!"

"You may want to hear the rest of what I have to say before you get overconfident" King Kai said darkly. "I looked inside the ship. What they're bringing with them, doesn't appear like their A-Game."

"They're holding back, even after the two from before were thrashed by Kakarot?" Vegeta asked.

"They have approximately a dozen warriors on the ship, however, they are their more passive ones" King Kai explained. "In another hold, 5 more sit waiting, however, these five aren't warriors. Their armor isn't right."

"So they've got a bunch of the dopiest warriors and some priests?" Vegeta asked.

Goku struck a thinking face. "That's strange, why not bring their most powerful warriors, and some that aren't even fighters?"

"Yeah, even to me, that sounds strange" Chi-Chi admitted. "If they are going to try and take us over after Goku gave them a special treatment, they should know that they don't have enough power."

"Do I have to spell it out to you guys?" King Kai shouted.

Vegeta gasped. "Wait a second, you pointed out a group of five, particular Saiyans getting special attention." He turned to Goku. "Kakarot, 5 passive Saiyans and our least aggressive warriors!"

"What?" Goku asked. "How does that-" before he could finish, his blood ran cold as he understood what Vegeta and King Kai were getting at. "No, they're planning to perform the ritual!"

"The ritual?" Piccolo asked.

"The same one that you all did on Goku" King Kai explained. "They don't need their strongest warriors if their weaker ones become the most powerful beings in the cosmos."

"What? No, that can't be!" Krillin exclaimed.

Piccolo stood up in front of Vegeta. "Vegeta, is there any chance that your family held the legend about the Super Saiyan God?"

"My father always told me…" Vegeta said, "That he had a tale to pass down to me when I grew to take his throne, as story passed through the royal bloodline. However, I was taken, and never got a chance to hear it. However, the Saiyan God Prophecy could very well be what he was referring to."

"Yeah, about that Vegeta…" King Kai said. "He's on the ship as well."

"WHAT?!" Vegeta roared.

"Yes, it would appear that the King himself is leading this assault" King Kai said. "You do understand, if it comes down to it, then your father may be the one who decides whether this planet stays, or goes _boom_."

For the first time in a very long time, a look of pure despair entered Vegeta's eyes. He fell silent, staring at the ground.

Goku gripped his fist and looked back up at the sky. "King Kai, you said that the ship was entering the solar system. How fast is it travelling?"

"At the speed it's going, it'll touch down within the next hour" King Kai revealed.

"What, we have less than an hour to prepare for a storm of Saiyan Gods?!" Tien asked, shocked.

Goku turned around. "Thanks for the heads up, King Kai" he said.

"Right, the Earth falls under my protection anyways" King Kai said. "You all, kick some serious tail!"

"Listen up, guys" Goku said. "I was gone for the last emergency we had, but I'm going to be on the front line this time. Chi-Chi, Bulma, get all of us that aren't fighting out of the way. You should be safe out here, we'll do our best to make sure that the fight doesn't come near."

"Right" Chi-Chi nodded. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Goku.

Goku looked down at her. "Chi-Chi?" he asked.

Looking up, a hard look entered her eyes. "You'd better not let them take out planet, and you'd better come back to me in one piece, got it, Mister?"

"No problem, you can count on it, Chi-Chi" Goku nodded.

Chi-Chi released Goku and began walking away. Goku turned to Shadow and Silver. "You two, go warn your friends in Knothole. You guys have ki that's hard to read unless you're in a fight. Tell them to bunker down, then grab the Master Emerald and get ready for a battle."

"But, I'm not sure how much good I'll do" Silver said. "Rocks won't do much against Saiyans. And I'm not trained enough in Chaos yes to use Pure Form."

"That's ok, Silver" Shadow said. "I have an idea, we can work together to fight them off."

"What does that mean?" Silver asked.

Shadow smirked. "I'll tell you on the way. Let's go."

"Right" Silver nodded.

The two raised their hands. "Let's go, Chaos Control!" the two shouted, vanishing on the spot.

Goku turned to the rest of them. "Guys, this may not be as bad as it seems. Remember, I was already much more skilled and powerful than the Saiyans on Planet Vegeta ever were when I became a Super Saiyan God. Even then, it took me a while before I really got into my powers, and they wore off really fast. The only reason I could keep fighting after was because I got lucky and my body absorbed some of the powers." He looked at Vegeta. "Do you think any other Saiyans are capable of that?"

Vegeta shook his head. "It's as you said, you are quite a prodigy, especially compared to the primitive powers we as a race used to hold, compared to the heights we've reached now."

Goku nodded and looked back. "So keep them busy. Many of you have styles and techniques that will help. Goten, Trunks" he said, looking at the two. "If you get permission from your moms, Gotenks could be a great help to us."

"Come on, we don't need permission" Trunks said.

"Get it anyways" Goku said, looking down at him.

"Aw, alright. Let's go, Goten" Trunks said, taking off towards the house.

"Ok" Goten said simply, following him.

"Alright, guys, there's no shame in sitting this one out" Goku said. Vegeta opened his mouth, but Goku quickly interjected. "No matter what any other _person_ might say. Tien, Krillin, you guys could really help out, you could hold them off with Solar Flare. Yamcha, your Spirit Ball technique could really throw them off the scent if they use their scouters. Just because they have high power, doesn't mean that they're battle senses are on the same level as ours. If we keep moving fast enough, they could probably lose sight of us. But they'll still be able to move fast as well. Remember, they'll be Saiyan Gods."

"You can count me in, Goku!" Krillin demanded. "I haven't been able to be much help ever since we first encountered Frieza, so I'll do my best."

"I really wish I could help you guys out…" Videl said. "But I've never even come close to you guys. Besides, someone has to watch our daughter."

"It's ok, Videl" Gohan assured.

"Hey, can you do me a favor?" Goku asked. "When you go to get Pan, could you stop by your dad's place and ask Buu to come help. With how tough he is, he could be a really big help."

Videl nodded. "Yeah, sure" she said as she levitated into the air.

Tien looked at Goku. "Chiaotzu, Puar, Oolong, and Roshi are all cooped up at Kami House. I'd better go tell them to lie low and keep their power levels down."

"Come back quick, Tien" Goku nodded.

Tien too took off into the sky. Goku looked behind him, and saw a skulking Goten and Trunks looking out the window. "I guess those two aren't coming" Goku said. He turned towards Vegeta. "Shall we get out engines warming up?"

A blue flame lit up around Vegeta. "I thought that you'd never ask" he chuckled.

Pumping his fist, the same fire lit up around Goku. "Are you alright with this, fighting against Saiyans?" he asked.

Vegeta answered when his aura flared, and his hair lit up, becoming cyan. Grinning, Goku followed suit, his power scaling beyond anything the other Z-Fighters could feel.

Yamcha laughed. "Yeah, besides, what do we have to worry about when we've got these two on our sides?"

Gohan looked sideways at the two Super Saiyan Blues. "I wish I could power up too" he said. "But I wouldn't even be able to stand around very long as Super Saiyan 3." His hair flared golden, and his eyes twisted like prisms, flashing green. "I guess I'll be a Super Saiyan for now."

Goku turned around. "And you'll to great, son. Just remember, Super Saiyan 3 really kills your body. Last resort if someone puts their attention on you and get better than we thought."

Gohan nodded. "Yeah, you got it Dad. After all, you know more about Super Saiyan 3 than any of us."

Goku smiled. "I know that you'll do great, Son."

Piccolo reached up and took off his turban and shoulder pads. Cracking his neck, he flared his energy. "I always forget how good it feels to take that stuff off" he sighed. "My Special Beam Cannon is ready to greet anyone who tries to take this world."

Smirking, Krillin flared a white aura up, touching the heavens. "Maybe I went a little overboard there, but I'm not as weak compared to you guys as you might think" he said.

18 stretched her arms. "Oh well, I guess this'll be a good chance to get some exercise" she said. "Krillin, I know that you can hold your own against the Saiyans, just try to keep up with me, ok?"

Krillin pumped his fist. "You know it, 18!"

18 looked up. "You know, maybe I know someone else that would like a chance to warm up."

"Huh?" SSB Goku asked.

"Oh, you mean 17?" Krillin asked.

18 lifted up slightly. "I heard he's working as a ranger for some state park" she said. "I'll be back in a few."

"Alright, hurry back, honey!" Krillin called.

"Who would've thought, that after all we battled against that mechanical monstrosities all those years ago, we would be pairing up with them to save the planet?" SSB Vegeta asked.

"Come on, Vegeta, they're on our side now" SSB Goku said. "No need to call them names like that anymore."

"Either way" SSB Vegeta said. "Kakarot, you must have found that all of your enemies either become allies, or assume a more permanent fixture, outside of this world."

"Uh, guys?" SSJ Gohan interjected. "We should really get moving. If a few of us head into the upper atmosphere, we may be able to see them coming."

"Allow me" Piccolo offered. "I don't need as much oxygen, so I can go much higher up." He looked at the sky. "King Kai, are you still listening?"

"Yeah, I am" King Kai answered.

"Good. Can you tell me which direction the Saiyan ship is coming from?" Piccolo asked.

"Fly up there, and I'll point you around" King Kai answered.

Piccolo looked back at the group. "Guys, I'll be back when I see the ship coming" he said.

"Right!" Goku, Gohan, and Krillin said at once.

"Whatever" SSB Vegeta huffed.

"Heh, same cocky attitude as always, Vegeta" Piccolo chuckled. "Alright, let's go!" he said, blasting straight up into the sky.

"So, Dad, what do we do until Piccolo gives us the signal?" SSJ Gohan asked.

"I guess we just wait" SSB Goku shrugged. "We can't really do much until they come to us. Man, I didn't expect them this soon."

"I didn't expect them period" Krillin chuckled.

Laughter broke out in the group. A bright flash of light took place to the right of Goku, drawing the eye of everyone. Two objects materialized, a glowing yellow figure, and a deep green item.

When the light from Chaos Control faded, Goku looked over. "Silver, but where's-" SSB Goku began to ask, but stopped as he realized something.

"Not Silver" the figure said. "Shadilver's the name."

"What in the blazes?" SSB Vegeta asked.

"Oh, so you two tried fusing together?" SSB Goku asked.

Another Chaos reaction took place, and the two separated. Super Silver rubbed his head. "Geez, Chaos Union really gives me a headache" he complained.

"You get used to it after the first few times" Super Shadow said, powering down.

"Why were you guys trying out a Fusion between you two?" SSB Goku asked. "Isn't the Pure Form much more powerful than even a Hyper Fusion?"

"Maybe so" Shadow admitted. "But since Silver is incapable us using the Pure Form yet, I figured that our combined abilities may make the power trade off from going from Pure to Hyper would be worth it."

"Oh, you were trying to mix Chaos and Psychokinesis?" SSJ Gohan asked. "That sounds pretty potent, you two."

"We thought so" Silver said.

"Although…" Shadow said. "It will be sort of a field test. I don't like taking such a risk, but I'm not just going to leave Silver behind twiddling his thumbs again. Besides, maybe Shadilver will be able to go Pure."

"Hey, that's right" Silver said. "I mean, our abilities will be combined, and if you can go Pure, surely our Fusion can."

"The only thing I'm worried about, can we go full Pure?" Shadow wondered. "We'll already be using a lot of Chaos Energy to be fused, and even though the body of Shadilver is much stronger, it still has limits. I have no doubt we'll be able to power up, but I do not feel like the difference between myself Pure and our fused Pure selves will be as powerful as the difference between Hyper form and Hyper Shadic is."

"Why don't you guys test it out now?" SSJ Gohan asked.

"Sorry, but that amount of Chaos Energy can really destroy our bodies" Shadow shook his head. "That kind of power will be a failsafe in case these Saiyans are too much for mere Hyper Forms."

"Oh, that's right" SSJ Gohan realized. "Sonic actually had to tag out with you, even though he had Frieza on the ropes, because it was starting to take a heavy toll on him."

"So while my body may be more geared towards handling it, I have no idea whether that effect would be diluted or enhanced in a combined force" Shadow explained.

"Ugh, whoever knew that Fusion could be so complicated?" SSB Goku asked.

"Speaking of bodies handling energy…" Shadow said, looking at the glowing Goku. "Is it wise to be tapping into your maximum power this soon before the fight? Won't you be wearing your body down?"

"Nah, this transformation is different" SSB Goku said. "Super Saiyan Blue requires a strong mind and perfect control over my ki, so in reality, if I'm not taking damage, it isn't doing much to my power in the short term. Besides, something about these God transformations take a while to warm up, so better get on it early."

"I see" Shadow mused.

Silver stepped up to Goku. "Say, this Super Saiyan Blue form is the next step after the Super Saiyan God form, right?"

"Uh, yeah" SSB Goku nodded.

"How much stronger is it than Super Saiyan God?" Silver asked. "You said that Super Saiyan God was a set power, but this is just a very powerful form, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is" SSB Goku said. "Saiyan Gods are nothing to mess around with. It's not a wide margin between my power then and now, but enough that I should have a decent advantage over them."

"That's good news" Silver sighed.

"It's like I said, things are going to be a bit hairy, but it isn't as bad as it sounds" SSB Goku assured. "After all, as far as me or Vegeta know, no pure-blooded Saiyan except Broly has ever come near our level, and even he's fallen pretty far behind. I doubt that any Saiyans coming this way will be much of a threat when me and Vegeta are around…"

* * *

 **Space…**

* * *

"Sir, asteroid field ahead!"

"Put up the shields" King Vegeta commanded.

"Sir!" the Saiyan saluted, rushing to the control console.

"So, we're almost there, eh?" Bardock asked. "Good, space travel is boring."

"That, I can agree with you on" King Vegeta nodded. "That large planet we passed a while back, it was the third planet out from the Earth." Looking out of the window, a faint red speck in the distance rapidly approached. "There's the second one out. Our arrival should be mere moments away."

"Then our battle draws near" Bardock laughed. "This should be one for the record books."

"Indeed it shall" King Vegeta chuckled. He stretched his arm out, stopping his fist before Bardock. "Good luck, Super Saiyan."

Smirking, Bardock bumped his own fist to the King's. "Same to you, Vegeta" he said. "May the winner take it all!"

* * *

 **Yup. Uh-huh. Saiyan Arrival in T-Minus 1 Chapter. I hope that the hype is coming on like a freight train, and I hope that it lives up to your expectations. As always, I would greatly appreciate it if you would drop a Review into the Review box on your way out, and until then, prepare… For the REAL, Battle of Gods…**


	34. A God among Gods

**Mt. Paozu**

* * *

"THEY'RE HEEEEEERE!"

"Ah!" everyone gasped at once, looking up.

Piccolo came diving out of the sky a lightning speed. Spinning, he landed hard and cracked the surface on impact. "The ship, it'll land on the planet any second!" he said. "I came as soon as I saw it."

"So soon!" SSJ Gohan gasped. Frowning, he clenched his fists. "Then I guess, we have no choice. Do or die, right, Dad?"

Goku nodded. "Yeah."

Powers flared all throughout the group. Bursts of yellow, blue and white energy clashed through the air, before they all blasted into the air like bolts of lightning. Goku and Vegeta were in the lead, holding their power back so that the rest of them could keep up.

"Piccolo, how big was the ship?" SSB Goku asked.

"About the size of Frieza's flagship" Piccolo said. "The one that he used back on Planet Namek."

"Ah!" SSB Goku gasped. "That big?"

Piccolo nodded. "Still, according to King Kai, only about a dozen Saiyans are here for battle. We'll be ready."

"A dozen gods is still bad news" Krillin pointed out. "Even if they're inexperienced gods, that doesn't change the facts."

"Let us know something not so utterly obvious" SSB Vegeta shot.

"Hmm…" Krillin huffed. "I hope that I'm not too rusty with all of my old attacks."

"You can't do any worse than me, Krillin" Yamcha cheered him up. "You've been keeping up on your training to an extent. Besides our brief time in Otherworld, I haven't done much myself."

"Yeah…" Krillin chuckled. "Man, if only we were all Saiyans, this would be so much easier."

"Yeah, but if everyone could do it, then it wouldn't be any fun" SSJ Gohan laughed.

Goku smiled. "I like this, you guys. Even if the Earth is in mortal peril, being able to still laugh, that's important."

"Hey, we know that if anything happens to us, you'll find something for us" Yamcha said. "Even if you have to fly from here to Namek, you've never been one to let us stay dead before."

"Of course, that doesn't mean that we _want_ to die" Krillin said. "But with the likes of you two and Buu on our side, I'm feeling good about our chances."

"Speaking of, where is Buu?" SSJ Gohan asked. "18's not back either."

"She'll probably meet up with us at ground zero" Krillin said. "She has a flair for dramatics like that."

"You know her best" Tien said. "Buu's probably taking a while to get going. He's been a bit slow ever since he separated."

"You guys ever wish Buu could be as nice as he is right now in his true form?" Krillin asked. "Not saying that I don't like him, but I would feel a lot more confident in these kinds of situations if we had Kid Buu on our side."

"And I'd bet you'd never worry again if Frieza worked for us" SSB Vegeta snarled. "Or if Cell were there to drain everyone of their life force. Villains don't help the heroes, so quit having such useless thoughts."

"Things aren't always so black and white" Super Shadow said. "You would be surprised at the amount of times the Doctor has helped us sort out a sticky situation."

"And from what I have heard, it's usually to help sort out a mess that he brought around in the first place" SSB Vegeta responded.

"Touche" Super Shadow conceded.

Piccolo looked around. "Here" he said to them, descending towards the ground.

The rest of the fighters followed him down, landing lightly on the crags of a mountain. Goku looked back at everyone. "Guys, hide your power levels for now, we don't want them to get the drop on us."

Nodding, Gohan's hair smoothed down, fading from blonde to black. Shadow and Silver followed suit, losing their golden glow. Goku and Vegeta maintained Super Saiyan Blue, knowing that they wouldn't be spotted on scouter.

Krillin looked sideways. "Piccolo, are you sure that they're going to land down there?" he asked. "When dealing with space, you could be only a tiny bit off, and they'll land miles and miles away."

Piccolo frowned. "Yes, I know that, Krillin. However, I think you underestimate the power of my mind. I am fairly certain that they will land in that valley."

Tien chuckled. "You know guys, this feels a lot like that time Frieza came to Earth with his father. We predicted where he'd land, and we hid on the mountain nearby to get a good view. It's really crazy how similar those two situations are."

"Hey, you're right" Yamcha laughed. "Funny how that turned out."

"Yes, positively hilarious" SSB Vegeta growled. "Hilarious for a moron, perhaps."

"Hey!" Yamcha protested. "That's not-"

"Shush!" Piccolo shushed them. He jerked his finger towards the sky, prompting everyone to look up.

Far up into the atmosphere, a shape was becoming more visible by the second. A large, red shape was rapidly descending upon the planet. "That must be their ship" SSB Goku commented. "What else could it be?"

"A meteor?" Shadow offered.

"At this point, I think I'd take the meteor" Krillin admitted nervously. "Rocks are nothing, gods are tough."

Silver stepped forward, his veins glowing. "Hey guys, why risk a fight?" he asked. "Before they become gods, I can use this mountain and crush the ship like a tin can."

"DO NOT!" SSB Vegeta roared.

Everyone in the group flinched at the intensity in Vegeta's voice. "Um, why not, Vegeta?" Gohan asked. "It's a lot safer than open combat."

Vegeta glared daggers at Gohan. "Yes, perhaps they are the enemy, and yes, perhaps that is the safer option, but those are my people aboard the craft! Killing them will be a last resort method of saving the planet. And besides…" he trailed off.

Goku facepalmed. "That's right, King Kai told us your father was aboard the ship."

Immediately after hearing this, Silver looked ashamed. "Oh, that's right…" he said meekly. "Sorry Vegeta, I didn't think that one through."

"Hmmph" SSB Vegeta huffed, facing away and looking up at the ship. "Incapacitate the ritual performs if you get the chance" he said. "Without them, they won't be able to keep their God forms running for very long. Distract them, and attempt not to mortally wound them."

"We're supposed to try not to mortally wound them?" Krillin asked. "Who's going to tell _them_ that?"

Vegeta looked back at Krillin. "Kakarot and I will lead the main battle, but this is a Saiyan invasion. I wouldn't be surprised if they began to spread out across the planet as soon as they land, aiming for conquest."

"Well then" Shadow said, looking at Silver. "If we're aiming to restrain, perhaps Shadilver is indeed the best way to go. Combined Chaos and Psychokinesis, we'd keep them from doing anything."

"Heh heh, yeah" Silver said. "Should we fuse now?"

"No" SSB Goku said. "If you do that, they may sense our power early."

"But won't they already sense us?" Shadow asked. "I mean, we don't exactly know how to suppress our power."

"You're doing it right now" SSB Goku said. "That's another difference in between us, that I've noticed. Unless you're exerting yourself, trying to power up, you're all but impossible to sense."

"Really?" Silver asked.

Goku nodded. "Yeah, for some reason, your guys' _ki_ works differently. But the bottom line is, as long as you aren't powering up or harnessing your abilities, you won't have a feelable power level."

"Peculiar, yet it works for us" Shadow nodded. "When should we fuse together, then?"

The rarest of occurrences just happened. Goku and Vegeta smirked in synchronicity. "Don't worry about it" SSB Goku said.

"We'll give the signal, you couldn't miss it" SSB Vegeta said.

A strong wind started to push down on them, threatening to blow them off the mountainside. Above and ahead of them, the Saiyan ship began to near the ground, only about half a mile up. Everyone's muscles tensed up. "Alright, it's do or die" Tien muttered.

"Everyone, duck out of sight" SSB Goku said. "They may not sense our power levels, but they'll still be able to see us if they are on the lookout."

"Right" everyone nodded. Ducking behind every rocky crag, everyone seemed to vanished from sight. However, Shadow and Silver didn't make it to any hiding spots before they were taken.

Shadow looked at Silver. "I feel so primitive having to do this" he complained, getting on the ground and curling up. His position was that he had used for the Spin Dash, yet he didn't spin, he just sat there and tried to look like a rock.

Silver facepalmed. "When you've gotta go…" he said begrudgingly, curling up as well. "I really need to do some practice with flexibility" he complained, his voice muffled. "You and Sonic make Spinning look so easy."

"Quiet you fools" SSB Vegeta said, his voice seemingly coming out of thin air in his hiding place. "We're hiding our bodies and our power, do not make this all worthless by blabbing out location away!"

"You're being louder than we were" Shadow muttered under his breath, not loud enough for anyone but Silver to hear.

The buffeting winds became much stronger, and the roar of an engine came down, pounding inside their eardrums.

"It's about to begin" Tien said.

"Yeah" Yamcha said, nodding. "This isn't my first time battling opponents that could kill me by glaring hard enough."

"A paper tiger like yourself could be knocked over by a gentle breeze" SSB Vegeta chuckled.

Yamcha clenched his fist. "Let me tell you, cyan hair, if we weren't waiting to catch them off guard, I would lay the smack down on you!"

"What, throw a punch, and the backlash kills you and makes you fall on me?" SSB Vegeta asked.

"Vegeta, enough of that" SSB Goku said sharply. "After all, if you make one of them mad, they may target the King."

Vegeta glared at Goku, but realized the point behind his word, and he felt that he had railed on his teammates enough.

At that very moment, the sounds began to fade, the steady roaring of the engine began to die down. "They've landed" Shadow noted.

Goku nodded. "Alright guys, come on out, let's take a look over the peak."

A silent progression of bodies moved their way out of clefts on the mountainside, while Shadow and Silver uncurled. Goku and Vegeta reached the top first, and looked over.

Down in the valley, a large silver and black spaceship parked. Everything slowly went back to normal, trees stopped rustling, animals stopped scampering, and dust clouds settled.

For several minutes, nothing happened, the ship just stood there, nothing coming out of it. Goku looked to his left. "Vegeta, what's up with this?" he asked. "Why haven't any of the Saiyans come out yet?"

"Perhaps they are doing a scan of the area" SSB Vegeta offered. "That was a common tactic, back in the day." He stared down at the ship. "However, I do not appreciate all of this waiting, on my fellow Saiyans."

Vegeta placed his hand over the edge of the rim, and small bolts of energy began to leap from his palm. An aura of power began glowing around Vegeta, and he aimed his hand straight at the ship.

"Um, Vegeta?" SSB Goku asked. "What are you…"

"I do not wish to wait any longer, Kakarot" he said. "Perhaps this will get them out here."

"But what about attempting to avoid mortal wounds?" Shadow asked. "Won't blowing up the ship before they take their God forms classify as 'mortally wounding' them?"

"I will not detonate the ship…" SSB Vegeta said. "But merely, damage it enough to get their attention."

His energy flared, and a blast of energy, clear and distorting the air, shedding sparks, and blasting straight for the ship

Everyone except Goku and Vegeta ducked out of sight as the attack was launched. Within a second, the sound of shredding metal tore through the air, causing everybody to flinch back.

Goku facepalmed. "Vegeta, you may have overestimated the structure of that ship" he said.

Stress fractures ran through the entire hull of the ship. At the very top, the roof looked as if it were a patch of stone that had just taken an earthquake, caving in and shattered, yet barely holding on. Red lights came on around the vessel, alarms going off.

Cries were heard coming out of the ship, as Goku shot a look to his left. "How are we supposed to get them to leave if their ship is busted to Otherworld?"

Vegeta lowered his hand. "It'll fly" he said unconvincingly.

"And just why do you think-" SSB Goku began to shoot back, but before he could finish, the air became tangibly more pressurized. Goku and Vegeta both quickly turned towards the ship, frowning. All of the others didn't sense anything in the ship, but could feel the change in the air.

Krillin in particular noticed the change in the two, and gulped audibly. "So, I take it…" he began to say, before the door to the ship creaked open.

The pressure in the air became stronger, and a figure cloaked in a harsh red light stepped out. Goku and Vegeta both clenched the stone beneath their hands. "The first one" SSB Goku muttered.

The Saiyan beneath them was rather thin for a Saiyan. Slightly more muscled than Vegeta was, but not to the point of a Saiyan like Nappa or Broly had been. His hair was a single spike, curled forward, and glowing magenta.

Before they had finished gauging the first Saiyan, the energy filling the air grew several times stronger, as another Saiyan emerged from the broken ship. This one was rather scrawny compared to the other, but had a rather analytic eye from appearances. His hair was short, spikes of hair drooping down the sides of his head.

"Guys" SSB Goku said, nodding.

"Ok!" Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha said at the same time, standing up straight, aura's flying high.

Silver and Shadow both pumped their arms with a confident expression on their faces. Lights flashed all around them as the Super Emeralds warped into existence. Each one lit up rapidly, , power streaming from them into the two hedgehogs. A pillar of multicolored fire erupted around them as their fur went the same shade, bursting into Hyper Form.

"It's time!" Gohan shouted, bursting into Super Saiyan.

"Now!" SSB Vegeta roared.

A storm of lights erupted all across the mountaintop as each one of them darted upwards before descending down the other side. Each one of them landed simultaneously in front of the Saiyans, startling them.

"What the-" the first Saiyan exclaimed.

He was silenced as Goku and Vegeta darted forward together. Vegeta ducked low and delivered a powerful upwards strike, while Goku went straight in, striking the other one straight on the head. Both of them were knocked flying backwards, crashing straight through the front walls of the ship, becoming buried in the wreckage.

Everyone merely blinked. "Um, why do you guys need our help again?" Hyper Shadow asked.

The pressure in the air intensified once more, and another Saiyan came rushing out. "So, a welcoming party?" he asked.

As he flew out, each hole in the ship erupted in red light, and the other two emerged from the collapsed walls, reaching up and rubbing the dust from their faces.

"The God shows himself already, eh?" the first Saiyan asked.

"Excellent, we were hoping our powers weren't going to go to waste" the second one laughed.

"Hardly a scratch" SSB Goku muttered.

"Hey, no worries, Kakarot" SSB Vegeta smirked. "They are still no match for us."

"Oh yeah?" Saiyan 3 asked. "I'm not so sure about that."

Saiyans 1 and 3 rushed Goku, while Saiyan 2 rushed at Vegeta. Goku leaned back as the two going for him struck out, their blows flying over the top of his head, before he leaned back up and performed a roundhouse kick, sending the first Saiyan into the mountainside. Sensing another attack coming, Goku twisted, grabbing the third Saiyan's arm, and flipped him over his shoulder, sending him into his buddy just as he was getting up. Vegeta caught the fist of the Saiyan attacking him, neutralizing most of the force behind the attack, then sweeping him off his feet and elbow dropping the warrior into the ground.

"Guys!" SSB Goku shouted at the others as the two Saiyans he was fighting were getting back up. "Now would be a good time to prepare for battle!"

"Hnn, yeah" SSJ Gohan nodded, kicking up a dust devil as he began ascending.

"Let's do this, Shadow" Hyper Silver said.

"You bet it" Hyper Shadow nodded.

The two reached out and struck their fists together, brilliant flashes of Chaos Energy blazing forth. "Now!" they cried together. "CHAOS, CONTROL!"

Fists still connected, the two became silhouettes in the supernova of light. The massive beacons the two were emitting merged into one single source of energy. The light began fading, and the newly fused hedgehog came into existence. The new being had a single long spine, extending down out of the back of his head. It was only about half the length that both of Silver's were. Ringed around the central spine, six more curved upwards. Each spike was highlighted red, with veins of green energy outlining each one. The Psychokinetic veins that Silver had had on his hands were still there, but glowed bright red now, filled with Chaos energy.

He opened his eyes, a startling combination of red and gold, almost the same color as the hair of the Super Saiyan Gods. He took a deep breath. "I, feel as if this is quite successful" the new hedgehog said. He stuck out his hand. "Alright, my name is, Shadilver!" he cried.

Gohan let out a powerful bellow as his hair shot out, and he finished his climb to Super Saiyan 3. "Alright" he said gruffly. "I'm ready!"

"You three" SSB Vegeta said, looking at Tien, Yamcha, and Krillin. He smirked. "Try not to die easily."

"Hey!" they all protested at once.

Also all at once, four more Saiyan Gods emerged from the ship, surveying the area. The three that were already out had gotten back up, and the Z-Fighters alongside Shadilver found themselves surrounded. Even as they got ready to fight, three more emerged from the ship, making it ten against eight.

Yamcha looked left and right. "I really wish that 18 and Buu were here already…" he muttered. "I don't like these numbers."

"I hate to admit it…" SSB Goku began to say. "But this isn't exactly the best spot to be right now."

"Let me take care of that" Shadilver said. Sweeping his hand, all around them, a cloud of dust erupted, obscuring their vision. Suddenly, in a flash of light, they were all high in the air, looking down on the other Saiyans. "There, like this positioning better."

Goku chuckled. "Yeah, thanks for that" he said.

"Everyone!" SSB Vegeta commanded. "Let's launch a combined blast, but detonate it before it hits the planet. Perhaps that will be enough to incapacitate the Saiyans without damaging the Earth.

"Hey, good idea" Krillin agreed. He placed his hands by his side. "Been awhile since I've done this" he chuckled, bluish white energy flaring.

"Yeah, same" Yamcha agreed, following suit.

Tien clasped his hands together, more energy forming between them. "Alright, I'm going all in!" he cried.

Piccolo flared his powers, gathering energy in his pals. "No holding back!" he shouted.

Shadilver clenched his fist and raised it above his shoulder, crackling bolts of green and red energy sparking forth. "I wouldn't want to do anything permanent to them" he chuckled. "But at the same time, I do. Here goes!"

"I know this is gonna hurt me" SSJ3 Gohan said, preparing for his own Kamehameha wave. "But, like you said when you were fighting Buu, now isn't the time to conserve energy!

Goku took a deep breath. "Let's be careful, Vegeta" he said. "If we're even a little bit off, our blasts would do much more than make a little crater in the ground."

"Right, so you'd better be damn well sure that you don't misfire" SSB Vegeta said.

Goku clasped his hands together behind him. "Funny, I was about to tell you the same thing" he chuckled, a light as bright as a small star beginning to form in his hands.

"Astoundingly hilarious" SSB Vegeta said sarcastically, his hands stretched out to his sides, one sphere purple, another sphere orange forming in each one.

"Kaaaa… Meeee… Haaaa… Meeee…" Goku, Gohan, Krillin, and Yamcha began chanting.

Vegeta thrusted his hands together, forming one multicolored blast. "FINAL, FLASH!" he roared.

His vision narrowing down below, in the center where the dust began to settle, Tien took aim. "TRI-BEAM, HAAAAAAA!

"LIGHT GRENADE, YAAAAHHH!" Piccolo shouted, unleashing a torrent of golden energy.

"Yrgh-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the four of them roared, simultaneously unleashed their most powerful Kamehameha Waves, all spiraling together as they rocketed downwards.

"Now, Psycho-Spear!" Hyper Shadilver shouted, thrusting his hands forward and unleashing a massive blast of green-hued energy, bolts of red energy racing across it.

All seven blasts rained down towards the ground like meteors, spinning around each other until they all darted inwards, colliding, and causing an explosion with nuclear results. The congealed explosion radiated outwards, leveling the mountains, leaving only piles of rubble behind. Giant sparks of energy, the size of houses, blasted skywards, narrowly avoiding each of them. The sound of the planet beneath them, a crushing sound, overrode all else. The crust fissured outwards for several hundred feet, scarring the terrain.

Goku and Vegeta breathed the hardest, having launched much more devastating attacks than the rest of them. A mushroom cloud had billowed up around them from the force of the attack's impact. Krillin lowered his hands. "Please tell me that we just took at least a few of them down?" he asked hopefully.

Goku breathed out and shook his head. "I can still sense all of them" he sighed.

"He's right" SSB Vegeta huffed. "However, we may have worn them down a bit from the force of that attack."

The dust began to fall to the ground, and all ten of the Saiyans were revealed, arms up in a shielding fashion, looking around confusedly. Several faint beeps rage through the air, and suddenly, all the Saiyans wearing scouters shot their heads up. "There they are!" one of them shouted.

They all braced themselves as each Saiyan took to the air, rising towards them. "Scratch what I said before" SSB Vegeta shouted. "They're a lot tougher than I expected. Go all out!"

"I was already going to" Piccolo chucked. He brought his fingers up to his forehead, his middle and index finger coming together, and electrical energy sparking on them.

"Only ten of them?" Hyper Shadilver shrugged. "Honestly, it would take more than that to land a hit on me."

"Hey, we've got a cocky one here" the nearest Saiyan chuckled. "Hey, Nio, care to help me shut him up?"

"Yeah, let's teach him a lesson, Turrip" SSG Nio said.

Shadilver looked back at the others. "Hey, if you want, you can leave these two to me. I'm probably the only one here besides you two..." he said, gesturing at Goku and Vegeta, "Who can juggle more than one."

"You know, I thought it was only Saiyan fusions who got such an attitude" Krillin muttered to Gohan.

"Heh" SSJ3 Gohan chuckled. "Must be because Sonic's cool attitude isn't balancing out Shadow's overconfidence. Silver's always been a little too sure of himself too, once it gets down to the fight."

"Speaking of the fight…" Krillin said, stretching his arms out to his sides. "We'd better get ready, we don't want them to catch us off guard." Swirling energy, elongating and flattening out, gathered above each one.

Shadilver dashed high into the air, flipping over the ring of Saiyans, twisting around and giving a beckoning finger to the two that had challenged him. Nio and Turrip floated towards him, slowly advancing.

Goku looked over at them. "Hey, be careful" he warned Shadilver.

Shadilver gave him a puzzled look. "Why? You know that these goons couldn't touch me."

"Care to put that to the test?" SSG Turrip asked, dashing at Shadilver with mach speed, fist raised. As he did that, Nio circled around Shadilver, coming at him from behind, ready to strike.

Smirking, Shadilver leaned about three inches to his right. The two Saiyans nearly shaved the hair off his neck, fists colliding right next to his head and knocking each other back. Twisting to where he was facing away from both of them, he stretched his hands out, aimed one at each of them. Crackling red bolts of energy leapt from his veins and struck each of them in the air, jolting them to their core.

The two began to sink in the air, shaking it off after a bit and flying back up, launching a frenzied assault on Shadilver. Goku's eyes widened, and he chuckled as he realized what they were doing. The rest of the Saiyans watched in shock as Shadilver effortlessly dodged every single attack they through. "I forgot" he realized. "Chaos Control, of course, no wonder they're so overconfident. They can probably see everything coming a minute beforehand right now."

"Not to mention their Chaos Attacks" SSJ3 Gohan noted. "I never thought I'd be glad that beings from our universe can't stand Chaos Energy."

Shadilver dived as the two flew at him again, causing them to run face first into each other. "Come on, I thought that two warriors on the level of gods would put up more of a fight than this" he taunted.

Krillin glanced around as all the Saiyan Gods surrounding them were still stunned by the fight. "Guys, isn't it about time we go on the offensive before they come at us?"

"Huh?" Tien asked. "Oh, right."

"Yeah, I'd say it's about time too" SSB Vegeta chuckled, getting into fighting stance.

"Uh, hey!" one of the Saiyans around them shouted, noticing what they were saying. "Men, at ready!"

"DESTRUCTO DISC!" Krillin bellowed, spinning around and sending two sawblades of energy soaring through the air, straight at the one who raised the alarm. Each blade collided directly with him, piercing straight through his armor, but stopping there, and exploding.

The Saiyan examined a scratch on his arm, very shallow. "Not a bad move, earthling" he commented, facing Krillin. "However, it's my turn now."

"Let's move!" SSB Goku bellowed, before all hell broke loose.

Krillin launched himself at the Saiyan at the same time he came at him. The Saiyan struck out with blinding speed, but passed right through Krillin, who vanished, then reappeared behind him. As the Saiyan turned around to see him, he already had raised his hands to his head. "Solar Flare!" he shouted, unleashing an extremely bright flash of light, blinding the Saiyan.

Another Saiyan rushed at Gohan, who used his martial arts training to his advantage. Catching the arm as he lashed out, Gohan twisted and flipped him over his shoulder, sending him plummeting to the ground below before raising his hands above his head, clasping them together and gathering yellow energy. "MASENKO!" SSJ3 Gohan shouted, thrusting his hands forward and unleashing the powerful wave.

Piccolo aimed his fingers and fired. "Special Beam Cannon!" he shouted, directing it at the nearest Saiyan. Similarly to Krillin's Destructo Disc, the Special Beam Cannon pierced the armor, but stopped at the skin. However, the continuous impact of the beam forced the Saiyan back in the air, which Piccolo used to press his advantage.

Tien and Yamcha launched forward at the same moment, circling one of the free Saiyans rapidly and going in for a simultaneous drop kick on the Saiyan's neck. The Saiyan frowned, glaring at the two before flipping up, attempting to strike them away. Yamcha and Tien made a speedy jump back, before each firing a powerful blast at him. The two detonated on contact, sending up a plume of smoke.

Goku and Vegeta split up, each tackling another pair of Saiyans. Each one of them made a show out of it by countering each one with only one arm and leg each, fighting them off from either side. Deflecting two final blows, Goku thrust his hands out to the side, unleashing a blast of power that send them reeling through the air. Vegeta grasped the fist of each of his opponents, slamming them into each other and kicking them forward, stretching his hand forward and unleashing a low end Big Bang Attack, blasting them back further.

Tien and Yamcha were sent flying into the ground by the Saiyan they were after, landing hard and getting back up shakily. Tien held one hand up, aiming a finger at the Saiyan, while Yamcha clutched his hand, palm up, generating a ball of energy that looked like a small sun. "Dodon Ray/Spirit Ball!" they shouted, unleashing two simultaneous at the fighter, who deflected each of them with a simple backhand, before diving down at them. They jumped out of the way, letting him crash to the ground, before Yamcha jumped behind Tien and looked away, while Tien brought his hands to his forehead. "Solar Flare!" he shouted.

Nio rushed Shadilver once more, at which he responded by backflipping over his head, and letting him nearly crash into Turrip. Flipping around to face them again, he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You haven't seen anything yet" he said, smirking.

"I think we've seen about all we want to!" SSG Turrip shouted, reaching back and gathering a sphere of green energy in his hand.

Nio gathered a red sphere. "You foolish little ingrate" SSG Nio chuckled. "You either take this, or let it strike your friends. Your call!"

The two of them thrusted their arms forward, unleashing giant torrents of energy, melding together to form one swirling beam, a deep, vibrant purple. Shadilver held his ground. "Fools, do you really think that's the only two options I have?" he asked.

His eyes flashed, and the space in front of him distorted. The beam disappeared as it drew near to Shadilver, vanishing into thin air, leaving the Saiyans shocked. Shadilver held up three fingers. "Three… Two… One…"

The distortion reappeared behind the Saiyans, and the massive beam rocketed forth from behind, blasting them out of the air, down towards Shadilver. With his hands still crossed, he grinned as they drew near. "Time for an old favorite" he said. Red sparks began emanating from his hands, and the rings located on his wrists. "Chaos, BLAST!"

The massive dome of Chaos energy swelled outwards, completely swallowing up the three Saiyans coming at him, and bathing the entire battlefield in red light. Moments later, the bodies of both Nio and Turrip were sent flying back through the air, towards the ground, Chaos energy crackling across their body as they plowed a new canyon in the ground.

Letting out a breath, Shadilver uncrossed his arms. "Well now, I think that I've gotten my point good and driven in."

Goku and Vegeta once more launched the pair they were fighting away. "Great work, you two" SSB Goku complimented Shadilver.

Looking over, Shadilver nodded. "Yeah, thanks" he said. "These guys just move way too slow, heh heh."

Down on the ground, Nio and Turrip stood back up, rapidly getting back into action. Goku frowned. "Even with Chaos, though, you're attacks aren't hitting them hard enough to keep them down."

Four Saiyans immediately rushed Goku and Vegeta, attacking fiercely. "Although," SSB Goku grunted, barely deflecting the blows, "We're in the same boat right now."

Down below, Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien were all staying alive through evasive maneuvers, narrowly avoiding the attacks of the two they were dealing with. Piccolo was confusing his own Saiyan with multiple Afterimages, using it to buy time while he charged each Special Beam Cannon, gradually wearing his opponent down slightly with each one. Gohan used pure speed and power to dodge and deflect any attacks coming his used a combination of Chaos Control, Chaos-based attacks, and his immeasurable speed to use his enemies' strength against them, before chipping away at them with the highly effective Chaos attacks. Goku and Vegeta were maintaining a lead over their adversaries, but they just kept coming back for more, and pressure was beginning to be applied lightly to the two pure-blooded Saiyans fighting for the Earth.

Krillin flew past Goku, his Saiyan hot on his tail. "I hope the fight's going better for you than it is for me" he shouted in passing.

Piccolo fired another Special Beam Cannon, but this time, the Saiyan reached out and swiped to the side, deflecting his attack away. In his shock, the Saiyan launched forward and slammed Piccolo out of sight.

Tien and Yamcha attempted another tag attack, Yamcha going for a low sweep while Tien spun around and slammed his foot into his neck. The Saiyan, hardly feeling the blistering attack, spun and kicked them both away, plowing through the crust in opposite directions.

Goku elbow dropped one of his Saiyans, before slamming his foot deep into the other one's gut, following it up by bringing his combined fists down on the Saiyan's back. He looked back. "No, it looks like Tien, Yamcha, and Piccolo are already down" he thought. "Damn!"

The two Saiyans that Goku had just dropped to the planet below were getting back up once more. Goku grimaced. "Even I wasn't this durable when I became a Super Saiyan God" he swore. "Although, I was fighting Beerus himself at the time, the difference between my powers and his must be the reason they seem to be a lot tougher than I was."

The two down below prepared to take off, but then they stopped. A look came over their faces, and it appeared that they stood down. The change seemed to ripple through the group of Saiyans on the assault. The two fighting Vegeta, and the others fighting Gohan, Krillin and Shadilver suddenly backed away from their targets, and descended towards the ground. The two that had taken out Tien, Yamcha, and Piccolo also retreated, heading back towards the ship.

Goku frowned. "What's going-" he began to ask, before a massive force rippled through the air, and his senses began picking up another, no, _two more_ massive sources of godly _Ki_. He gasped. "Vegeta, do you feel that?"

Vegeta stared at the ship. "These two, they're different than the others" he noted. "Super Saiyan God is a set level power, yet these two feel different than the ones we've been fighting."

Slowly, the five of them remaining, Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Shadilver, and Krillin, all descended towards the ground, setting down thirty feet away from the group that the Saiyans had formed. Krillin flinched as the power in the atmosphere began to intensify once more. "I, forgot. King Kai said that there were a dozen warriors aboard the ship" he said. "We've only been fighting with ten…"

Gohan landed and stumbled, his hair flashing, shrinking and fading to black. He landed on the ground and gasped. "Never, held it, that long" he wheezed. "Father, do you, have a, Senzu Bean, I can take?"

Nodding, Goku reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pouch. Looking at it, he tossed it over his shoulder to Gohan. "Here, I only got five of them from Korrin" he said as Gohan caught it. "Take one for you, then find Tien, Yamcha, and Piccolo, get them fixed up also. Keep the last one in reserve, we may need it yet."

Nodding, Gohan took one Senzu Bean out and popped it into his mouth. Chewing it, his cuts slowly faded, and he stood up straighter. "Thanks Dad" he said, levitating into the air, before flying off to where the others bit it.

Goku turned his attention back to where the Saiyans were gathering. The two sources of godly ki that he had felt come into existence were approaching. "The Saiyans must have gotten orders through the headsets attached to their scouters" SSB Vegeta muttered. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have had any reason to all retreat at once."

"Hmm…" SSB Goku mused.

"Sir!" a chorus of voices rang out before them.

The four of their heads shot up, looking at the entrance to the ship. Two figures were making their way down the ramp. Vegeta's eyes narrowed, and his breath caught, and Goku got into a fighting stance, worried about the two newcomers.

One of them had hair that spiked steeply upwards, and his armor appeared different than the rest of theirs. On the left shoulder of the armor, a small decal, almost like an anchor, was emblemized upon it.

The other fighter had spiked hair that spread outwards. A red headband decorated his forehead, and he had a star-shaped scar on his cheek. His armor appeared more generic, grey and green, and he wore red armbands as well.

All the Saiyans before them got on their knees and kneeled before the first Saiyan, the other one standing behind him. "My liege" they all said.

Looking down at them all, King Vegeta waved his arm, and at once, half of the Saiyans there took to the air, splitting up and dashing away.

Goku gasped. He looked back and called out. "Gohan, Tien, Yamcha, Piccolo, Krillin, go catch them, don't let them harm anything!"

He didn't get an answer, however, four lights immediately darted into the sky, and Krillin, right next to him, took off as well, one going after each Saiyan as they flew away. Goku turned back. "Damn, they're spreading across the planet, and we can't even go help because of these two."

"I don't know about that. So this is their 'liege,' eh?" Shadilver huffed. "How boring, he's just like the rest of them. So much for the big bad boss."

"You have way too much confidence" SSb Goku said. "He's still a Super Saiyan God. He's going to be a formidable enemy. This could still end up being a fierce battle. Even if we were on a higher level than those guys, these two, feel, different. We have to be prepared for battle."

"So!" the first Saiyan boomed across the field. "It would appear that we have gotten ourselves a three for one deal. When we came here, we were only expecting one God to present himself."

"Well now, I hope that that doesn't bother you" SSB Goku chuckled.

"And I hate to break it to you, but I'm not even a God" Hyper Shadilver shrugged. "I suppose that makes how effortlessly I've been taking on those goons of yours much more humiliating."

The leading Saiyan frowned. "Yes, you have quite the attitude, don't you?" he asked. "Perhaps you need to be taught a lesson in respect for your superiors!"

"You can try" Hyper Shadilver shrugged. "But, you see, you're not my superior. Every last one of you combined couldn't take me on."

"It's true" SSB Goku chuckled. "But you couldn't exactly take them down either, could you?"

"Fair enough" Hyper Shadilver shrugged.

"Are you two done yammering?" SSB Vegeta growled.

"Geez, relax there" SSB Goku said.

The two Saiyans that emerged from the ship walked forward, stopping ten feet away from them. Both of them had a harsh glow in their eyes, matching the aura of power emanating from them, and the magenta hair of theirs that spiked upwards. "So, who are you?" the same Saiyan asked. "As far as we have known, there have never been beings here with powers even a sliver of yours. Let us know your names."

"Very well" SSB Goku chuckled. He flared his aura dramatically. "I, am Son Goku!" he shouted. "Guardian of this planet! My home, my friends, everything here, is under my protection." He smirked. "And if I were you, I would forget fighting your way through us. Fix up your ship and leave in peace while you have the chance." He looked at Vegeta, trying to gauge his reaction to his attempt at a fearsome persona, attempting to get them to leave nonviolently, but he remained impassive, seemingly frozen at the presence of the Saiyan before them.

"You would command us to leave this planet?" the Saiyan chuckled. "You would warn the might of the king of the Saiyan race to back down from a fight?"

"Yeah" SSB Goku said. "I would."

"Hmmph" SSG King Vegeta snorted. "And why exactly should we do that?"

"For starters, as I have said, this world is under my protection" SSB Goku said. "And you know what? I've fought some pretty powerful foes to safeguard it. At one point, I found myself matched up against Lord Beerus the Destroyer, and kept this world intact."

King Vegeta was staggered at this claim. "You, fought the God of Destruction?" he asked.

Goku nodded. "You bet I have. Not to mention, I've trained under the very person who trained him."

"And as for me…" Hyper Shadilver said, pointing at them. "I just happen to be the ultimate force from another realm. I don't come from here, as I am not one, but two warriors fused together under the power of Chaos. At my fingertips I hold the ability to control time and space itself."

"Mighty warriors, I see" SSG King Vegeta mused. "However, we haven't come here unprepared for that. All of my warriors are in a state right now that allows them to transcend barriers to the power of true gods!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know all that" SSB Goku said. "Still not enough to beat me. I handled two of them at once with ease, they aren't exactly your fiercest fighters."

Many of the Saiyans growled at this comment, before King Vegeta silenced them. "Well then, it would appear that we have quite the confident one on our hands" he said. He turned to Vegeta. "And as for the final god among us, introduce yourself."

Vegeta's head shot up, his fist clenched. "You honestly need an introduction?" he roared. "You may fail to recognize me, but I _damn_ well know just who you are!"

King Vegeta was taken aback by this outburst. "My, my, you are quite temperamental it would seem" he said.

"Oh, you have _no_ idea!" SSB Vegeta said. "And as for introducing us warriors to you… I am not obligated to fill that slot. I am not fighting."

Goku's head shot to Vegeta at once. "WHAT?!" he asked. "Since when do you back down from a fight?"

"You know exactly why" SSB Vegeta growled. He looked back at the king. "I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am afraid, you will not be facing off against me here."

Vegeta's blue flaming aura began to fade, the sparkes travelling back inside his body, until he only had his blue hair and eyes remaining. Letting out a breath, those two faded to black as well, and he closed his eyes. A chorus of gasps rang through the Saiyans.

Vegeta's eyes shot back open, looking straight into the eyes of a shocked King Vegeta. "Perhaps you will recognize me now, _Father_?"

King Vegeta gasped. "My, my, Vegeta?" he asked.

Vegeta nodded. "Yes, Father, it's me."

The five other Saiyans, as well as King Vegeta and the one right behind him looked shocked. "The prince, is on some backwater world like this?" the Saiyan behind him asked.

"Who asked you, low-level?" Vegeta growled.

"'Low-level?!'" the Saiyan roared. "If the King wasn't here right now, I may just very well teach you a lesson about the bull-shit that your elites call 'classes.'"

"Stand down, Bardock" SSG King Vegeta said. He looked at his son. "Vegeta, what are you doing on this world?"

"This world is my home, Father" Vegeta said. "I'm here to protect just as much as he is" he said, jutting a thumb at Goku.

King Vegeta's gaze hardened. "My Son, I am sorry that your home is now here, but you of all the Saiyans must know that we can't make exceptions on anything, even for family. That is why we sent your brother off world, his emotions made him very inefficient."

"At least Tarble was a real person" Vegeta growled. "He wasn't a factory-produced robot of carnage like most of us came out. As a warrior race, we strove to hold down our emotions, but all that did was hold us back."

"Even so, the rules still stand" SSG King Vegeta stated. "We have a mission here."

"Then how about a Formal Challenge?" Vegeta offered. "This planet's greatest warrior against your greatest warrior."

Goku stepped forward. "Vegeta, you said you weren't going to fight, so that leaves me, right?"

Vegeta nodded. "So, Father, who is your strongest fighter that's here?"

"That would be me" SSG Bardock said, stepping forward. "Sorry to tell you, Prince, but as I said, classes have very little use nowadays."

King Vegeta chuckled. "It's true, Bardock has quickly become the strongest warrior to ever walk the surface of Planet Vegeta."

Vegeta clenched his fist. "So, Planet Vegeta is back as well, eh?" he asked.

King Vegeta nodded. "But that is beside the point. You wish to extend a formal challenge? That, as King of the Warrior Race, I can accept. Bardock, step forth."

Bardock took a step forward, his flame-like aura coming up around him. "This'll be over quick" he said, cracking his knuckles. "Hey, don't drag this out" he called to Goku. "I've got business to tend to once we're done here."

"Fine, I'll make this short and painless" SSB Goku chuckled, getting into position, his blue aura flaring.

Bardock cracked his neck. "Very well. My name is Bardock, the strongest warrior in all of the Saiyans."

"My name is Goku" SSB Goku said. "And I doubt that."

"What?" SSG Bardock asked.

"Heh heh, none of your concern" SSB Goku laughed.

King Vegeta looked between them. "Should you manage to win, Goku, we will retreat and leave your planet in peace. However, the Saiyans I have deployed are not going to stop, so if you decide to drag out the fight, you may find you have very little planet left to save. Should my warrior win, you shall step down, and allow us to take your world."

"Then I just have to end things quickly" SSB Goku said. "Fine, I'm ready now. Shall we get this over with?"

"Yes, just go already" SSG Bardock huffed.

"Alright, have it your way!" SSB Goku bellowed, launching himself through the air, straight at Bardock.

* * *

 **Sky…**

* * *

"Hey you!" Krillin shouted, rushing after the fleeing Saiyan. "TAAAAKE THIS!" he flung his arm, sending a massive Destructo Disc through the air.

The disc collided flashily with the Saiyan's armor, creating a massive flash of energy on contact. The Saiyan staggered in the air, a long gash in his back. He turned around, the flames of anger burning in his eyes. "Hrrgh, you little pest!" he roared, staring Krillin down. "Trying to sneak attack me? I'll teach you a lesson but good!"

"Uhhh uh-oh" Krillin stuttered. "Why is it always me?"

The Saiyan charged him at blinding speed, almost too fast for Krillin to see. He raised his hands to his forehead. "Sola-" he began to say, before the Saiyan was on top of him. "Gah!" he exclaimed.

"Sweet dreams!" the Saiyan bellowed, spiking Krillin at the ground.

"GWAAAaaaaaahhhhhh" Krillin shouted as he fell through the air, crashing straight through the ground and diving almost fifty feet under the surface before he lost consciousness.

"Heh heh, that'll teach ya, you little brat" the Saiyan laughed. Tapping the scouter, he looked down. "Power Level of 1, that baldy is on death's door right now. Might as well leave him there, he'll be gone soon enough as it is."

Turning in the air, he kept clicking his scouter. "Speaking of, I wonder if this planet has any fighters of a decent power. Let's see… Those four'll be taken care of by my buddies if they manage to catch up… Oh, there's a good sized one, far that way, that oughta make for a good fight." As he turned towards the power level he was picking up, his scouter beeped again. "Huh, what's this?" he asked. He turned further to the right. "My my, there is another one, skyrocketing over in that direction. 500,000, 1,000,000, 2,000,000, gah!" he cried, hitting the button, turning off power sensing mode. "At that rate, the thing would have shattered like a sugar cube" he said. "However, it would seem that the only other warrior on this planet with any form of real strength will either be that way, or that way" he said, looking back and forth between the two directions. "Oh well, I can't avoid a good mystery" he cackled. "The first one was high alright, but this other one was rising at a rate even Frieza couldn't pull off. I have to check this out."

Turning on locater mode, so that he could see where the signal came from without the power overloading the scouter, he faced himself the right way. "Alright, let's go find out just who you are!" he said.

* * *

 **Snake Way…**

* * *

"Whoa there, Knuckles!"

"Hrgh, stupid, sudden ends!" he complained, digging his fist into the tail and pulling himself up with Tails' help. "Don't you just hate it when bridges end without warning?" he asked.

"I know what you mean, Knuckles" Tails said. Then his eyes widened. "Wait, it, ended? We're at the end?"

"Yeah, I guess that's what it-" Knuckles said. "Oh, yeah, it does. YES, WE'RE FINALLY DONE!"

"Oh yeah" Tails cheered, looking around. His cheers, however, began to slowly fade. "But, um, if we're here, then where is this King Kai's planet?"

"Oh, that's a rather good question" Knuckles said, nodding and looking around. "Um, geez, is it cloaked or something?"

"Hmm…" Tails hummed, looking around. "Oh, there it is!" he said, pointing up.

"Huh?" Knuckles asked, looking where Tails was pointing.

High in the sky, a small green sphere hung in the air, details too faint to make out from down in Snake Way. "What the, how are we supposed to get up there?" he asked. "I mean, we can't exactly fly like Goku could!"

Facepalming, Tails shook his head and tapped Knuckles on the shoulder before winding up his Tails. Looking back, he facepalmed as well. "Right, of course" he muttered. "Never mind me, I'm just an idiot sometimes."

Tails grabbed Knuckles underneath the arms and took flight, heading straight up. "This isn't as bad as it was trying to fly _over_ that path" Tails said. "I don't get all dizzy anymore."

"Don't start, either" Knuckles said. "I don't care if I'm dead, but I'm not about to end up being a grease spot on some two million mile long pathway."

"Don't worry, I got you Knuckles" Tails assured him. "Look, we're already almost there."

Knuckles looked up, and indeed the small planet was only about fifty feet away now. "Good, maybe we can finally re-" Knuckles said before his body began to feel funny. Suddenly, he and Tails began ascending towards the planet a lot faster. "Gah, slow it down Tails!" he shouted.

"I, can't" Tails groaned. "This, is, gravity!" He grunted and Knuckles fell from his grasp and his tails went limp, and they both fell up towards the planet.

Knuckles barely managed to right himself and slam into the ground, feet first, while Tails flipped himself right-side-up and managed to twist his tails enough to slow his descent. Both of them stumbled on impact. "Is, it just me, or are things, a little heavier here?" Knuckles grunted.

"How is this possible?" Tails wondered. "A planet, barely a few hundred feet across, has a gravity force much stronger than Mobius or Earth had."

Knuckles got up straight and took a few steps. "Well, after you get past the surprise of it, things aren't too bad here. We had some planets with stronger gravities back when we went on out little space odyssey."

"Yeah, you're right" Tails said, standing up straight. "It's just like weights, you've just got to warm up a bit."

"Yeah, it is" Knuckles agreed.

Tails looked around. "So, what do you think this King Kai guy looks like?"

"Heck if I know" Knuckles shrugged. "This planet isn't too big, so it shouldn't take long to find him, anyways."

"Yeah, good point" Tails nodded. "Let's go, I want to find him as soon as possible."

"Someone's pretty anxious" Knuckles noticed.

"Oh, well, I just want to be, you know, completely done, so we can finally say that we're here" Tails stammered.

Knuckles blinked. "Alright, if you say so."

Tails began to walk, and he could literally see the ground curve underneath him. "Rather small place" he noted. "I was kind of expecting something, larger."

"No joke" Knuckles said. "I could probably tunnel through this thing in about five seconds. Less if I had my Shovel Claws."

"Yeah, you could dig an entire cave in a minute if you have those things" Tails chuckled.

"No joke, they really are useful" Knuckles nodded. "But speaking of useful, I really wish this Kai guy would show himself already."

"Hmm, is that him?" Tails asked, walking faster.

The two came across a paved road, an actual paved road. Beyond it, a small living residence stood. A little house, as well as what appeared to be a shed beyond that, and a grove of trees spread around. A small lawn table and chair were set out front. Beyond that, someone with their back turned to them seemed to be concentrating hard, looking off into the sky.

"Yeah, that must be him" Tails said, walking forward. "Hey, mister, are you King Kai?"

He didn't answer. Tails could hear small grunting sounds coming from him. "Sir, are you alright?" he asked.

As he got closer, he began to be able to make out words. "Left… Right… Come on, duck… get out of there, that's right… Now, attack, attack!"

"Sir?" Tails asked.

The person cringed and whirled around. " _What do you want?!_ " he asked angrily. "In case you couldn't tell, I'm a little busy right now!"

Knuckles walked up beside him. "Hey, are you King Kai?" he asked.

"Yes, I am, but seriously, now isn't the time. The Planet Earth is in great danger, I have to keep an eye on things!"

"Wait, Earth's in danger?" Tails asked.

"Huh?" King Kai asked, giving Tails his attention for the first time. "You don't look like you're from the Earth."

"Well, technically we aren't" Tails said. "We come from a planet called Mobius that's kind of been joined with the Earth right now, you see. But we've been living on the Earth for a while now, and we probably know whoever's trying to help out with the danger there."

"Is Sonic on the front line?" Knuckles asked.

"What, who's Sonic?" King Kai asked. "No, it's a fierce battle, with a Saiyan named Goku leading the defense."

"Goku's out there fighting?" Tails asked.

"Oh, so you know Goku too" King Kai said. "I see…"

"Sir, could you tell us how the others are doing too?" Knuckles asked.

"Well, yeah, I can" King Kai said. "I assume, if you know Goku, you must know the others, so let's see. Krillin took a bad fall, but he's holding on. Tien is holding his own, buying time, but Yamcha went down a while back, I think he's out of the fight. Piccolo is having trouble even getting the attention of his fighter, so he hasn't really taken any hits yet. There's this one guy, who calls himself Shadilver, and man, is he gifted. He's taking on five Saiyan Gods at once. And Goku is-"

"Hold on, did you say, Saiyan Gods?" Knuckles asked.

King Kai nodded. "Yes, the Earth is being attacked by a group of Saiyans that are in God form. Goku's currently fighting hard, but his opponent is giving him a good run for his money. Gohan is managing to actually fight the Saiyan he's after, making good use of inverting his strength. Handy tactic. Vegeta's sitting out here, for good reason… And that's all the fighters I can see."

"Shadilver… That must mean Shadow and Silver fused" Tails realized. "But, then, if that's all of them, then where's Sonic?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know who this Sonic fella is" King Kai said.

"Um, wait, Goku said that you have some form of telepathy, right?" Tails asked. "If I thought about Sonic really hard, could you use me to find him?"

"Um, probably, but what's so important about this Sonic?" King Kai said.

"First off, it's just Sonic, not 'this Sonic'" Knuckles corrected him. "He's our best friend, for one."

"And another thing is that he's one of the bravest, strongest people I know" Tails said. "If he's not in this fight for the Earth, then something's happened to him, and we need to find out what."

"Is he really that strong?" King Kai asked suspiciously.

"He single-handedly held off that guy Frieza" Knuckles offered. "And, then Frieza killed us… Oh, no, Tails, do you think that…"

"No, if Sonic were dead, he would have found us by now" Tails said, planting himself firmly in place. "However, we do have to figure out why he's not there all of a sudden, when he was on the front line for Frieza."

"Well, if this guy is as powerful as you say he is, then I see no reason to not try and find him" King Kai shrugged. "Here, put your hand on my shoulder, and project the image of your friend to the front of your mind."

"Ok" Tails said, stepping forward. "Hey, real quick, could your powers also find someone in this place too?"

"Yeah, just about anywhere in the universe" King Kai nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I'm just naturally curious" Tails said quickly. "Alright, here goes" he said as he reached out, and touched King Kai's shoulder.

"Hmm…" King Kai said. "Oh, I see what he looks like now. Very similar to that Shadow fellow. Are they related?"

"No, it's just a coincidence" Tails said. "Could you find him."

"Hold on, I'm looking, I'm looking" King Kai grouched. His antennas flicked through the air. "Hmm, not there, no, not there either. Definitely not there, not, oops, already checked here."

Knuckles shook his head. "Hey, can you search faster? If the Earth is on a clock, then finding Sonic fast might be of great importance in saving it."

"Geez, you two really are an impatient pair, aren't you?" King Kai asked. "Oh, I think, yeah, there he is. Sorry, machinery usually gets in the way of my vision."

"Machinery?" Tails asked. "Did Eggman catch him?"

"Not sure who Eggman is, but it doesn't look like anything's keeping him there. He's just in some sort of base" King Kai said.

"Base?" Tails asked. "What does it look like?"

"Close your eyes, and you'll see what I'm able to see" King Kai said. "Go on, try it."

"Alright" Tails said, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes tight. For a second, his vision was black, then, as if it were a radio being tuned, a hazy image came to mind, gradually becoming clearer. He saw, a metal floor, bright clear windows, and, Sonic, leaning against a wall, staring out.

Tails gasped and pulled his hand away, breaking the vision. Knuckles looked at Tails. "Tails, what's wrong, what's happened to Sonic?"

"It's, I, nothing's happened to him, I don't think" Tails stuttered out. "I just, wasn't expecting, so see him, where he was."

"Where's he hanging out at?" Knuckles asked.

Tails let out a sigh. "He's sitting in the bridge on the Blue Typhoon" he muttered.

Knuckles blinked. "The Blue Typhoon?" he asked. "Why is that so bad?"

"I just, didn't expect to see him there, is all" Tails said.

"Poor guy, by the looks of it" King Kai commented.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tails asked.

"Well, this Sonic guy doesn't look like much of a fighter, boys" King Kai said. "If anything, he looks like someone who's all but given up the will to live. It's heartbreaking, no matter who you see it on."

"What?" Tails asked, shocked. "No, Sonic's never like that."

"Come take a look" King Kai said. "There's no way around it, this guy isn't looking too optimistic."

Frowning, Tails walked forward again and replaced his hand on King Kai's back, going back into the vision. Once his view had cleared again, be began looking around until he saw Sonic. Focusing on him, Tails' eyes widened. King Kai was right. Sonic didn't look like Sonic at all. His eyes held none of the energy they normally did, he looked malnourished, as if he was starving himself. He was awake, but his shallow breaths, flopped hands, and minimal movement might have fooled the untrained eye otherwise.

"Sonic, what happened to you?" Tails gasped.

Sonic's head lifted up. "Huh?" Tails heard him ask. "Who's there?"

Tails looked in shock. "Did, did he just hear me?" he thought.

"Yes, he did" King Kai said, surprising Tails that he had read his mind. "I can open up, as you would call them, communication channels, between this world and the next."

"Really?" Tails asked.

In the Blue Typhoon, Sonic sighed. "Whoever you are, please, I just want to be left alone."

Tails could hear none of the energy, none of the excitement, the joy, anything that Sonic usually sounded like. His voice was just, plain. Whoever he was viewing, it wasn't his friend. Something had changed, changed Sonic.

And he was going to find out. "Hey, Sonic, can you hear me?"

* * *

 **Sorry if the quality dipped a bit at the end there. I really wanted to get this out, but it was getting late and I was getting tired. Hopefully, though, the rest of the chapter made up for it. I sure hope that I'm living up to your expectations here, ladies and gents. This has been my longest chapter in this story yet, actually, I had a ton of content I wanted to squeeze in.  
**

 **One thing I wanted to say real quick, I believe I made a mistake in the story. I had nothing planned to do with Chris when I threw him in at the beginning of Resurrection F, and in all honesty, I don't plan to. So, he was there, but please, treat the rest of the story as if he didn't exist. Sorry about that, all writers make mistakes like that.**

 **Anyways, as always, I love seeing reviews getting dropped in on the way out, and beyond that, I hope that you enjoyed it, and I'll see you all next time.**


	35. Getting Back Into the Game

**Well guys, I'm back. Things have taken a while, yeah, but college is tough, especially when you're replacing your senior year of high school with it. Between tons of school work and lots of exercise, I've just been exhausted. So, I'll try to keep updating, just don't expect things to be super consistent for a long while, ok? Sorry. Anyways, let's go. I'm sure you guys have been waiting for this, so let 'er RIP!**

* * *

 **Landing Site…**

* * *

Goku darted through the air, moving faster than visible to the naked eye, before swinging around rapidly and bringing a heavy kick down towards Bardock.

Clenching his jaw, Bardock ducked low, allowing the attack to swing over his head, before springing back up with a powerful uppercut. Noticing the incoming attack, Goku suddenly vanished into thin air, Bardock's attack coming up empty, shocking the Saiyan. His eyes widened in surprise, then Goku reappeared behind him. Just as he wheeled to face him, Goku stuck his hand out. "KYAH!" SSB Goku roared, an invisible force ejecting forth from his palm, sending Bardock skidding backwards at near terminal velocity, coming to a stop hundreds of feet away from where he started.

Grimacing, Bardock pushed himself back into fighting stance. "So, teleporting? Ok, that's a new trick."

"Heh" SSB Goku chuckled. "I learned that one long ago. Of course, it helps when you don't rely on one of those pieces of glass on your face for sensing others. I'm not a helpless child whenever they fail."

Bardock's frown deepened. "Helpless child, eh?" SSG Bardock asked. "Want to come say that to my face?"

Goku shrugged. "If you insist."

Vanishing again, Goku reappeared directly behind the Saiyan. "This better?" he asked.

Not missing a beat, Bardock swung around, glowing, fiery energy trailing off of his fist, slamming directly into the overconfident god behind him. Coughing hard, Goku staggered backwards. "Geez, I felt that!" he said. "What was that?"

"An attack. What, I thought we were fighting?" SSG Bardock asked. "You still not taking things seriously?"

"I have a little trouble warming up" SSB Goku admitted, standing up straight.

"Heh" SSG Bardock chuckled. "Come on, if you don't take things serious, then you aren't going to last two minutes against me."

Goku scratched his hair. "Come on, against someone like you, it's only a matter of time before I end up ramping things up."

Planting his feet on the ground hard, Goku sprang forward, fist trailing with wisps of glowing energy, immediately crashing into the side of his face. Bardock spun over backwards, carving a new trench in the ground. Bringing his arm up, he slammed down onto the stony surface, punching a small crater into the ground and springing back into the air, skidding backwards, coming to a stop once more. Reaching up, he rubbed his cheek. "You know, not a bad little blow for someone 'still warming up'" he commented, cracking his neck. "Come on, I know you can do better than that!"

Reaching back, Bardock opened his hand wide. A spark flared bright, before a swirling ball of energy began blazing to life in his palm, glowing red with a white core.

Goku eyed the blast that Bardock was preparing. "That's a lot of power that you have there" he said with a low whistle. His gaze immediately hardened. "Fine, if you're forcing me here, then I guess that I have no choice but to ramp things up, right from the start."

Placing his hands before him, he twisted them, and cupped them by his side. "Kaaaaaaa… Meeeeeee… Haaaaaaa… Meeeeeee…"

As the massive glow began to form, particle by particle, in his hands, the ground began shaking as the two massive powers began surging through the crust. The Kamehameha Wave flashed at full power, and Bardock's arm moved back ever so slightly.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" SSB Goku roared, shaking the very heavens, pushing the massive wave forward, the blast large enough to have enveloped the ship the Saiyans came on.

"TAAAAAAAKE THIS!" SSG Bardock bellowed, flinging the massive sphere of energy that had congealed in his hand forward, spiraling through the air, and seemingly swelling with power and growing even larger as it moved forward.

As the two titanic attacks collided, it became obvious which attack was superior. Sparks flared as they clashed violently, however, the Final Spirit Cannon was pushed back rapidly by Goku's massive God Kamehameha. Bardock's eyes widened with shock as he realized just how powerful his opponent's attack was. Channeling his power, he flowed as much energy as he could into his arms, barely powering up and crossing them in a defensive position before his attack was completely overtaken, and the wave rushed straight into him.

The attack sent him blasting backwards through the air, burning his skin and shattering his armor like glass. The bright blue and white glare blinded him as the wave forced him back. He felt his arms become exposed as the arm bands he wore burned away in the power. As soon as the attack faded, and he fell down in the air ever so slightly, Goku reappeared beneath him, bringing his knee up, smashing Bardock high into the air.

Bardock wheeled around in the air, facing towards the surface. He felt a faint movement on his head, and he glanced behind him. Nothing was there, and his adversary still stood down below. Catching a movement out of the corner of his eye, he looked make, and his eyes widened. A thin red ribbon floated down through the air, twisting towards the ground, singed at the edges.

"Tora…" SSG Bardock growled, glaring at Goku. "Fine, things are getting heated? Well now, he's not the only one that can kick things up!"

A blue pulse of energy ran through his entire body, sparking around his arms. The fiery red aura leapt up around him, a raging inferno, before diving at the ground. "LET'S GO, RIGHT NOW!" he roared.

* * *

 **Blue Typhoon…**

* * *

" _Sonic, can you hear me…?"_

"Whoever's there, just leave me be" Sonic muttered. The voice seemed to echo through the bridge, and he was in no mood for anyone to find him. "I just want to be alone…"

" _Now that just doesn't sound like the Sonic I know"_ another voice came through, different than the last. " _You aren't usually the moping type."_

Sonic's ear twitched as he heard the voices, a familiarity carried with them, though somehow distorted. "How… Who is this?" he asked uncertainly.

" _I'm almost offended"_ the second voice said. " _It hasn't been that long, not long enough for you to forget our voices already, I mean, what, a month or two?"_

Sonic's ear twitched again. "Knuckles?" he asked.

" _And you didn't think that he would be here alone, do you?"_ the lighter voice spoke.

"T-Tails?" Sonic stuttered.

" _Wow, looks like your friends have had quite the effect on you"_ another voice spoke.

Frowning, Sonic cocked his head to the side. "Um, who's that?" he asked.

" _Hey, I thought you guys were supposed to be friends of Goku"_ the new person said, obviously talking to his two best friends as well as himself. " _Has he honestly never told you about me?"_

" _Well, he did mention you, not that we ever heard you in person before now"_ Knuckles explained. " _Sonic, this is King Kai, the dude from Otherworld that Goku trained with the first time_ he _died… Oh, uh, sorry for calling you 'dude.'"_

" _Just because I'm called a King doesn't mean I'm completely formal"_ King Kai dismissed it.

"So, you guys made that journey that Goku made?" Sonic asked. "You went down that long path to meet him?"

" _Yeah. It took a while, but I think that we're a good deal faster than he was"_ Tails said.

" _For a first time trip down Snake Way, you guys definitely set a record"_ King Kai agreed.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Sonic felt a smile tug up the corner of his lips. "You guys have no idea how good it is, just to hear your voices."

" _We're glad to see you too, Sonic"_ Knuckles said. " _But we don't really get something. Why are you holed up in the Blue Typhoon while there's a war going on out there?"_

"A war?" Sonic asked, confused.

" _Sonic, how long have you been there?"_ Tails asked concernedly. " _Why the Blue Typhoon of all places?"_

Sonic let out a sigh. "To be honest…" Sonic said lowly. "I've been here almost a month. I just needed a place… To lie low, for a while…"

" _Whaddya mean, 'lie low?'"_ Knuckles asked.

"Well…" Sonic began. "I, I wanted to be alone, without any of them bothering me."

" _You've never been solitary before, Sonic"_ Tails noted. " _What happened?"_

Sonic sighed once more. "I'm sorry, guys" he said. "I'm sorry that I didn't finish him off, even if it would have been risky for me, and because I didn't, you two are gone."

" _Sonic, don't tell me you're blaming yourself for what Frieza did?"_ Tails protested. " _That isn't on you in any way, at all."_

" _Seriously, even you can't be thick-headed enough to believe that"_ Knuckles agreed.

"It's not just that" Sonic said slowly. "I… I…"

" _Are you okay?"_ Tails asked.

"Tails… Knuckles…" Sonic began. "When, when Frieza did, what he did… When I saw it… I, slipped…"

" _You… Slipped?"_ Knuckles asked.

"I'm sorry, Tails" Sonic apologized, now addressing his friend, closer than a brother, directly. "When he murdered you two, I couldn't stop myself. I… Let myself go, I transformed…" his voice trailed off as he confessed.

" _..."_ silence reigned for the next moments. " _...Sonic, you mean, you went Dark?"_ Tails asked.

" _...Tell me, how badly did you whoop that bastard after that?"_ Knuckles asked.

" _Knuckles!"_ Tails said reproachfully.

"I really am sorry, Tails" Sonic said. "I know, I said I would never go there again, but as soon as you, as soon as he did that, I… Lost control. I couldn't stop it."

" _Sonic…"_ Tails said.

Following that, there was an uncomfortably long pause, before he responded. " _It's alright."_

Sonic shook his head. "It's really not" he insisted. "Even if you were ok with it, I'm not. I broke the promise, buddy, the second you were gone, like it never mattered at all…"

" _Listen Sonic"_ Tails said. " _I know, I know that I wanted you to stop using that form, but, I get it. What Frieza did, as unforgivable as it was to us, it must have been a thousand times worse for you. He did it just to make you hurt… And to be honest, I couldn't imagine you not going Dark after that, now that I think about it."_

" _Considering how you've lost nearly all control over so much less, I mean, it was nearly bound to happen"_ Knuckles pointed out.

Hearing what his friends were saying, and just hearing them period, Sonic felt the tension he had been carrying around with him loosen just a bit. He let out a chuckle. "Well, when you put it that way…"

" _And Sonic…"_ Tails began anew. " _You know I kinda sorta know you better than anyone else, comes with the territory of being your best friend."_

"Yeah?" Sonic asked, perplexed. "Of course I know that."

" _So, I know that you wouldn't cut yourself off from everybody else just because you felt bad about letting the Darkness take over"_ Tails pointed out. " _Sonic, what else happened, that can't be all."_

Sonic felt his joy from this contact with his friends drop a ways. "Nothing else, that's all" he said slowly.

Even if he couldn't see his friend, Sonic could almost feel Tails' disbelief, made even more pronounced when Knuckles spoke up. "Really? Come on, even I could tell that's not true, and Eggman's talked me into giving him the Chaos Emeralds."

Now he only hoped that a death glare worked on someone who was already dead. He could even sense King Kai trying not to say something. Knowing that he was in a corner, he stood up and sighed. He began walking towards the exit, as he looked up. "They said something about a war going on" he thought, launching into a controlled Super Form in order to not damage the ship, as he began walking a bit faster down the corridor. Looking up, he spoke again. "Knuckles, you mind letting me and Tails talk in private for a moment?" he asked.

" _Sure, after all, you must be anxious to get rid of me by now"_ Knuckles said.

"What, no, I-" Super Sonic began to say, before Knuckles laughed.

" _Come on, I'm just yanking you around"_ he said. " _See ya' later, Sonic."_

Sonic genuinely chuckled, emerging from the Blue Typhoon into the cave that made up Tails' beachside workshop. "Sure thing, Knux" he said. "Don't worry, we'll be getting both of you back, as soon as possible."

" _Sounds good to me"_ Knuckles said. A moment later, Sonic felt the mental connection splinter and sever, ending his conversation with the fiery echidna.

Sonic slowed down, taking his time in making it to the outside. "Tails…" he said, seeing if his other friend was still there.

" _Yeah Sonic?"_ Tails responded.

He let out a sigh. "Tails, I want you to tell me…" Super Sonic said slowly. "Is she there?"

Never had a simple silence been so full of traits, it was impossible to make out any one. " _You… Know?"_ he asked.

"It was kind of obvious, you're too smart not to use this as an opportunity to try" Super Sonic pointed out. "Knowing the other better than anyone else is a two way street, little buddy."

" _Yeah, I guess it is…"_ Tails conceded.

"So?" Super Sonic asked. "Any luck?"

" _Not yet, we literally just got off Snake Way a few minutes ago"_ Tails said. " _From what Goku told us, it was in our best interest to go see King Kai immediately, so we didn't have any time prior either."_

"So you don't know if you can find her there?" Super Sonic asked, having paused in front of the cloaked doorway.

" _Not yet, Sonic…"_ Tails said. " _We don't know if Otherworld is a place that was shared between every world, or if whatever we had in our dimension for an afterlife fused with this place. I'm just, hoping, that…"_

"I hope that you can find her…" Super Sonic admitted. "I just, don't know…"

" _If she's here, I'm going to do my best. She'd be with her family here, she'd be happy…"_

"And she probably wouldn't want to leave" Super Sonic muttered quietly. "Tails, I, I want you to tell me. If you do find her, and she wanted to stay, would you stay too?"

" _No"_ Tails said quickly, surprising Sonic.

"Tails...?" Super Sonic gasped.

" _As much as I would love, to stay here, to stay with her, Sonic, my life isn't over yet"_ Tails said. " _Well, technically, it is, but it never fully played out. When we finish our lives for real, we'll all have eternity here. I'm not just going to abandon to team, Sonic. I know, Nazo and everyone, they're still there, and I want to help make the universe safe again."_

"...Tails, don't just come back out of a sense of obligation-" Super Sonic said.

" _I'm not, Sonic"_ Tails assured him. " _I still have a full life. I didn't even become an adult yet, and I want to experience everything life has to offer before I spend forever here."_

At those words, the last of Sonic's stress abated, evaporating into nothingness. What was gnawing at him, so much, over the past month, was not knowing whether or not his closest friend would be returning. Knowing the answer, he would have felt better. Knowing that Tails would be coming back, and of his own steam, that was much more than Sonic had expected. He sincerely hoped that he would find who he was looking for, so he had hope as well.

He darted out of the workshop, feeling direct sunshine on his skin for the first time in forever, his golden aura of Chaos flashing around him. Looking up at the sky, he smiled. "Well Tails, it was _really_ great to hear your voice again. But I guess it's time to say bye, for now. It sounds like I'm needed on the battlefield."

" _Ok, then"_ Tails said. " _Sonic, were you really that worried, just about me coming back or not?"_

Sonic scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess I was" he admitted. "I wouldn't have tried to make you come back, but at the same time, well, I was worried you wouldn't."

" _Well, you should have known you wouldn't have to worry"_ Tails chuckled. " _I mean, after all, Sonic, we're basically brothers. You know I couldn't just leave you like that, no matter what."_

Sonic chuckled to himself. "Alright, yeah, that's hard to argue with."

" _But enough about all of this"_ Tails said. " _Get out there and kick some serious can, Sonic."_

"Heh heh" Super Sonic laughed, looking up into the sky. Giving a thumbs up, he nodded. "You can count on it."

* * *

 **Landing Site…**

* * *

Goku darted backwards, avoiding a blistering string of attacks from Bardock. The last blow narrowly missing his head, at which Goku crossed his arms, before shouting and unleashing a powerful wave of energy, blasting Bardock back through the air.

Landing steadily on the ground, Goku let out a breath. It almost seemed as if his opponent had nearly doubled in strength and speed in the last several moments of their battle. He barely had time to think about that before he was being rushed again. Swinging his hand up, he parried the next blow aimed for him, and twisted around to deliver a powerful backhand, which Bardock caught before using his own momentum to slam him into the ground. As he struck the ground, he used the impact to flip himself back up and connect a powerful kick to the side of Bardock's head.

Goku flipped once more in the air, landing on his feet, while Bardock barrel rolled through the air, before landing on all fours. Flashing red, he didn't miss a beat in charging Goku. Barely reacting, Goku raised his hands to his head and vanishing into thin air, Bardock rushing past where he had been, before reappearing right behind Bardock, dropping his elbow down on the Saiyan warrior's back, flooring him.

Retreating into the air, Goku grunted as he felt a warmth on his low back, realizing he must have been cut when he was slammed into the ground. Gritting his teeth, he reached back, before thrusting forward and unleashing a multitude of powerful blasts at Bardock. The landscape became peppered with craters, and debris flew into the air, as Bardock become obscured by the harsh energy.

Running low on power, Goku stopped his assault, breathing hard. Bardock still wasn't close to down, his energy was still very strong, he could only hope that his attack had lowered his stamina. "I need to end this quickly" SSB Goku thought. "They'll only last so long, trying to stop all the other Saiyans."

Falling to the ground, Goku let out a mighty roar, and his aura flared high into the sky around him. His eyes flashed brightly as electrical energy flashed around him. Holding his arms out to the side, energy began to pool in each splayed hand. Smoke began to clear, and Bardock became visible once more, appearing shocked when he saw Goku charging before him. Bringing his hands to his side, the two spheres of energy clashed together, melding into one massive blast. "This, ends, NOW!" SSB Goku roared. "KAMEHAMEHAAA!"

Thrusting forward, the massive torrent of energy flared forth. The beam, large enough to carve out a canyon, bore down on Bardock. The Saiyan stared down the powerful wave as it rapidly approached. "This move again?" SSG Bardock asked. "Well now… I guess I have no choice."

At that moment, the wave completely enveloped the Saiyan God, vanishing within the blue energy. Goku felt his power draining fast from the continued effort of sustaining his Kamehameha wave, but knew that he needed to finish things. Putting every last ounce of effort into the attack, he let it all go. Then, something different, something, bad, flashed through the air.

In the middle of the stream, a light shone, different than the bright blue of the Kamehameha, flashing outwards. A yellow glow caused the wave to distort and expand around a certain point. Goku's eyes widened in shock, and before he could react, the beam exploded.

Fiery blue particles rained down through the air, as a powerful energy practically _shoved_ Goku backwards across the ground. "Hrrgh, what, what's going on?" he grunted.

His senses kicked into high gear, as he detected motion on his right. His head had barely turned at all when a powerful force rocketed into him, sending him crashing through the solid ground as if it were made of water. Using every ounce of his energy, he pushed himself up, flipping over and crashing to the ground, coming to a stop. Struggling to his feet, gripping his upper arm, which felt broken, he looked around for whatever had struck him, but stopped short when he finally found it.

Standing directly in front of him, ten feet away, Bardock stood. However, now, he was different. Beneath his feet, the ground was crumbling, disintegrating into the air. His fiery red aura now looked closer to true fire, swirling flashes of yellow, orange, and red sparked around him, wisps escaping off of him. The fire was reflected in his eyes, staring down Goku.

Bardock's hair stood on end, spiking upwards into the air, and glowing with a heavy orange sheen. Deep tones of red and streaks of bright yellow fused together, forming an entirely new state of being.

"I warned you" the newly transformed Bardock stated. "You aren't winning this battle."

"You, you didn't just transform into a Super Saiyan God" SSB Goku muttered. "You're, a Super Saiyan as well."

"I'm surprised you know about Super Saiyans as well" SSGSS Bardock said. "You certainly know your lore."

"Oh, I know more than just lore" SSB Goku said. "Or haven't you noticed yet?"

"Noticed what?" SSGSS Bardock asked.

"Heh heh" SSB Goku asked. "Even I would have noticed. Or haven't you noticed a certain similarity between me and Vegeta yet?"

"Hmm…" SSGSS Bardock hummed. "And what exactly are you getting at?

"It doesn't matter, you don't need to know" SSB Goku said. Fighting through the pain, Goku flared his power. "What you do need to know, is that the Earth is my home!" he roared. "And as long as I'm still here, I will not let it fall prey to you!"

"Well then, if the God of the Earth still wants to fight, who am I to prevent him?" SSGSS Bardock asked.

"Fine then!" SSB Goku shouted. Rushing forward at lightning speed, entire body glowing with power, Goku went for an all out attack on the Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan.

* * *

 **Mountains…**

* * *

"Heh, come on, that all you got?"

"Well, would you listen to that?" the nearest Saiyan God chuckled.

His partner chuckled as well. "That sounded more like a bluff than anything to me."

"Have we run down this little rat already?" the third God asked.

"You wish" Hyper Shadilver said cockily. "Crap" he thought on the inside. "Maybe tackling three of these guys at once was a bit much…"

Three versus one was never a very desirable situation to be in. Using his Chaos Powers, Shadilver maintained a huge advantage over the three he was fighting. However, as the battle dragged on, and he kept up continuous Chaos Control, his powers began to become taxed. Occasionally, he would be struck by glancing blows as he attempted to conserve power and lower Chaos Control. The Gods were becoming increasingly more comfortable with their powers, adapting quickly.

He wasn't one to let it show. Thrusting forward, a Chaos-charged Psychokinetic wave pulsed through the air. While it was a weak attack comparatively, Chaos powers were extra effective on these cretins.

The energy flared through the air, rocking them about. Not missing a beat, Shadilver spun, energy glowing in his palms, and unleashed a blade of energy, expanding, and striking all three of them at once. They were once more staggered in the air, but nothing further.

The first Saiyan laughed at his attack. "What a weakling. And to think he was giving us _so_ much trouble before now."

"Why don't we end him now?" the third Saiyan asked. "But make him suffer, just a little bit for being so audacious."

"You think that you can really end me?" Hyper Shadilver asked. "I'll show YOU!"

Crossing his arms in front of him, he began crackling with Chaos Energy. Knowing the sting of Chaos attacks, the three Saiyans faltered slightly in their bravado.

"Now then, CHAOS-" Hyper Shadilver screamed, becoming enveloped in a flash of light.

The light beacon doubled, splitting apart, and two separate balls of energy, one green, one red, flew forward. Each orb connected with a Saiyan, however, the attacks didn't even make them flinch.

The light faded, and with that, Shadow and Silver became visible. Gulping audibly, they glanced at each other. "Oh, Iblis…" Hyper Shadow swore.

"This, isn't, good…" Hyper Silver agreed.

The three Saiyans looked on in shock. "Hey, uh, you guys know what's going on?" the second one asked.

The first one was the first to recover. "Hey, that rat we've been fighting this entire time, he was two in one" he growled.

"Is that even possible?" the third one asked. "Two warriors, fusing together?"

"Shadow, I am not feeling so confident about winning anymore" Hyper Silver said nervously.

"The downside of Chaos Unification…" Hyper Shadow muttered. "It's a bitch and a half when you run out of power before the fight is through."

"Well, if it is possible…" the second Saiyan chuckled. "That would mean that two is _indeed_ better than one."

"Yeah" the first Saiyan nodded. "For us anyways."

Immediately, the three Saiyans got into position to surround them. Shadow reached up and grabbed each of his wrists with the opposing hand. "Silver, I can buy us a bit of time" he warned. "Be ready to get out of here when I let loose."

"And what about you?" Hyper Silver asked.

"Either they go free, and the planet is finished, or I sacrifice myself to at least give us a fighting chance" Hyper Shadow explained.

"Sorry, Shadow, but I don't leave my team behind" Hyper Silver shook his head. "Never again. We may not be fused, but that doesn't mean that we can't combine our powers."

Sticking his hand out, the rings around Shadow's wrists began to flash bright green. "You Inhibitor Rings are Amplifier Rings, now" Hyper Silver said.

Shadow looked down in surprise. "And since when can you do that?" he asked.

"Dunno" Hyper Silver shrugged. "But let's fuse our powers one last time, and give them a Chaos Blast to shake the universe."

Closing his eyes, Shadow smirked. "Alright then."

"It won't work, weakling" the first Saiyan said cockily. "Try anything, and we'll have you down for the count before you have the chance."

"We'll see about that!" Hyper Shadow roared.

"Yes we shall!" the second Saiyan roared back.

At that, all three of them charged the two hedgehogs at once. Shadow's rings began to glow combined red and green, the aura flickering across his entire body. "Cha-!" he began to shout.

In a flash of light, all three Saiyans were sent soaring back, slamming into the ground, hard. The blasts of blueish white energy rained down from the sky and blasted them deep into the planet's crust. In another quick flash of light, a new figure appeared before Shadow and Silver. Glowing pure white, blue aura, spikes curled upwards…

"Hey guys, is it too late to join the party?" Pure Sonic asked.

Shadow and Silver's jaws literally dropped. Sonic chuckled. "You guys surprised to see me?"

Shaking his head, Shadow vanished in a flash of light. Sonic felt a held blow connect with the side of his head. " _Yeowch"_ he complained.

Shadow pulled his fist, smoking with Chaos, back, and blew the smoke away. " _That_ was for completely losing it!" he shouted. Softer, he punched Sonic on the shoulder. "And that, was for helping us out of that spot there."

Laughing, Silver floated forward and clapped Sonic on the back. "You know, you are sure a sight for sore eyes, Sonic" he said.

Sonic smiled and rubbed the side of his head, where Shadow had struck. "Yeah, I just figured, I had been moping around long enough. At some point, it was time to get back out here, just glad I wasn't too late."

Almost as if on cue, three pillars of fiery power erupted from the ground, and all three Saiyans came flying back up, on a direct crash course for Sonic. Looking back at his teammates, Sonic shrugged. "Pardon me, for just a moment" he said.

Turning around, he faced the three oncoming enemies. "I didn't get a good look before, but those guys have the same hair Goku did in his old God form" he noticed.

"They're Saiyans" Hyper Shadow said. "Super Saiyan Gods. Frieza resurrected them, probably to try and take us down again."

"So, that bastard is back at it again?" Pure Sonic growled. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised, poisonous toadstools don't change their spots, as they say."

"Hey, now we have a third rat to deal with."

"What's the big idea with the sneak attack, coward?"

"You guys sound pretty mad, why don't you just calm down?" Pure Sonic said cockily.

"I'll show you calm!" the Saiyan roared in a manner in which calm was the furthest thing from what it could be called, launching himself at Sonic.

Eyes glinting dangerously, Sonic leaned forward at just the right place, striking the Saiyan with a powerful headbutt. As he reeled in the air, Sonic flipped back, striking the Saiyan in the bottom of the chin, sending him flipping upwards into the air. Warping, Sonic reappeared above him, and unleashed a powerful pulse of Chaos energy, knocking the Saiyan back to the ground.

"Well know, perhaps I should have just gone Pure, instead of trying the fusion" Hyper Shadow said in shock.

"And just leave me hanging out, useless again?" Hyper Silver asked.

"Meh, I wasn't serious" Hyper Shadow shrugged. "That Fusion, though. Even when I fused with Sonic, I've never felt Chaos Control that strong. You have some great power, Silver, and once you can go Pure too-"

"The three of us will be unstoppable" Hyper Silver agreed.

"In the meantime…" Pure Sonic said, "Let's focus on the task at hand."

Enraged by how easily their comrade had been taken down, the next two Saiyans rushed Sonic at the same time. "You do know that two on one is unsportsmanlike?" he asked. When they just continued coming at him, he sighed. "Then I guess I'll just have to even the scales."

Holding his hand out to the side, a light flashed in his hand, and Caliburn materialized in his hands. "Come at me!" he shouted, darting down towards them, spinning through the air.

Dashing straight past them, time seemed to slow, as both Saiyans froze in midair. After a delay, massive gashed cracked their armors, and they began falling through the air, landing on all fours on the ground below. Breathing heavily, they collapsed, fiery aura fading, the two reverted to base form in falling unconscious.

"Geez, did you kill them?" Hyper Shadow asked in shock.

"Unless their skin is paper thin, then no" Pure Sonic shrugged. "I didn't try to give them an involuntary piercing or anything."

Down below, the first Saiyan that Sonic knocked down was getting back up again, having not been struck by a sword. "Sonic!" Hyper Shadow warned him.

Turning around, Sonic saw the Saiyan just in time for a massive blast of energy to be sent his way. Crossing his arms, the attack slammed into him, pushing him up into the air, sparking against his forearms. Twisting his hand, he brought Caliburn down, cutting straight through the blast, splitting it flying around him. "Yeow, that's some hot stuff" Pure Sonic yelped, the hair nearly being singed off of his arms.

"These guys don't go down easily" Hyper Silver told him. "We had been fighting them for a solid twenty minutes before you showed up." He gestured at the two on the ground, unconscious. "They probably only went down because they got wounded, probably badly too, from the looks of it."

"I didn't mean to _kill_ them" Pure Sonic protested.

"Well, then I'm sorry if I kill you as well" the remaining Saiyan said, having snuck up on them. Striking fast, his fist connected heavily in Sonic's gut, sending him reeling. Dashing forth, he attempted a followup attack. Seeing it coming, Sonic curled up and dropped, just beneath the next punch, before uncurling and shooting up, headbutting the Saiyan in the stomach, then pushing his hand forward, swirling with power, and hit the Saiyan with an earsplitting explosion that rocked the sky.

The Saiyan fell back towards the planet, eyes unfocused, while Shadow and Silver had hands clamped over their ears. "Little warning next time!?" Hyper Shadow roared. "Those Sonic Booms of your aren't exactly pleasant to be near when they go off!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Glad to see we're already back to our old dynamic" he muttered.

Diving down, he flipped forward and brought a heavy scissor kick down on the back of the still recovering Saiyan's neck. At the impact, the glow in that Saiyan's hair faded as well, and he rocketed back to the planet's surface, crashing among his comrades.

Nodding at his handiwork Sonic floated back up. "I'm going out on a limb here, and gonna say that those weren't the only ones?"

"When we left, there were at least fourteen or so" Hyper Silver said. "Everyone else was doing their best fighting them off, Goku and Vegeta were doing the best."

"Then they all split up and went to take on the planet" Hyper Shadow said. "So everyone but Goku and Vegeta flew off and tried to stall them. Goku stayed behind to fight their strongest guy one on one."

"And how are they doing?" Pure Sonic asked. "I wouldn't think they would last too long against guys like this."

"But the thing is, that form they're in only lasts about half an hour without them being taken down" Hyper Shadow said. "They're just trying to use techniques to stall them out."

"So in ten more minutes, the threat should pass?" Pure Sonic asked.

"A long ass ten minutes" Hyper Shadow muttered, nodding. "These guys could easily wipe us all out in five minutes if they could catch us, and could probably destroy the planet in just a couple."

Pure Sonic cracked his neck. "Well then, considering we're the only ones with forms this powerful…" he shrugged. "We need to help out. Shadow, I found the Master Emerald sitting up in those mountains where Goku lives, but you probably knew that. Now that you guys need a break from the Chaos Unification, it'll be a good time for you to go Pure as well." He turned to Silver. "Silver, I want you and Shadow to work together, have him help you absorb the power of the Pure Form."

"Are you crazy?" Hyper Silver asked. "I can barely go Hyper yet, I couldn't get anywhere near that power."

"You can't go it on your own, but remember, you didn't even know basic Chaos manipulation when we fought Solaris, yet you went Super like you had been doing it all your life" Hyper Shadow noted. "You just need training wheels in absorbing the power, not harnessing it."

"If you say so…" Hyper Silver said.

Sonic looked back to Shadow. "You said that Goku was in a big fight with one of them right now?" he asked.

"He was when we left" Hyper Shadow said. "Something about a 'formal challenge' for the planet. Goku was doing well when we left to fight off the rest of them."

"So if Goku only has to deal with one, let's leave that to him" Pure Sonic said. "But we can't let everyone else get beaten down by these Saiyans. We need to help them out."

"Alright then" Hyper Shadow nodded. "Sonic, how do you plan to find all of them, though?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Pure Sonic chuckled. "All it takes is a Light-Speed Da-" Sonic stopped abruptly, grunting, rubbing his arm before clearing his throat. "Sorry. Light-Speed Dash will cover almost the entire planet in moments at this level."

"It will, later" Hyper Shadow said, approaching Sonic.

"What?" Pure Sonic asked.

"Nice try covering it, Sonic, but I know what just happened" Hyper Shadow said. "Until you practice more with the form, use it in short bursts. We don't need you disintegrating from Chaos overload mid-battle."

Sonic sighed, knowing that Shadow's keen eye had beat him again. "Fine" he said, dropping towards the ground. Sonic's aura and fur flared brightly, then all the excess light that appeared began ebbing downwards, pooling in his hand. "Then you can take my power again" Sonic said, fur reverting to blue, and a super-condensed ball of white energy, green swirling inside, popping up in his hand.

Shadow and Silver descended as well. Shadow held his hand out, nodding. Sonic brought his hand up, then slammed the power down into Shadow's. Almost immediately, Shadow's fur flared whiter than snow, a faint red sheen covering his frame, and his Power blew outwards, blasting Sonic through the air, Silver too, to an extent, his Hyper form acted as a shield.

Catching himself, Sonic frowned. "Be honest with me" he said. "You enjoyed that."

"Hmmph" Pure Shadow chuckled. "Maybe just a little."

Groaning, Sonic pushed himself back to his feet. "So what's the diagnosis?" he asked. "Just wait around for you guys to take them down, or what?"

"Just try to avoid Chaos for a few minutes" Pure Shadow said. "Unlike you, I've had the occasion to practice the Pure Form, and adapt to the massive amount of Chaos energy it requires. Your body isn't trained enough yet, so give it a rest before you jump back in."

"Alright then" Sonic said. "You guys better hurry, then. If these guys know their clocks are ticking, they'll be trying to do all they can as fast as they can." Sonic chuckled. "And if there's one thing I know, it's fast, and just what kind they'll have with their power."

"Well, there's no need to worry about them" Pure Shadow said. "Silver, we need to go. Let's take them down before they know what hit them!"

"Right!" Hyper Silver said.

Glancing at Sonic once more, Shadow gave a small nod. "Fight well, Sonic" he said. Raising his hand above his head, he gripped it tight. "Chaos, CONTROL!"

The bright flash of Chaos Energy filled the valley, enveloping the two transformed hedgehogs. Sonic covered his eyes from the radiant burst, lowering his arm once it had ran its course. "You too, Shadow, Silver." Sonic said. "And I'll be right there beside you in just a minute…"

* * *

 **Landing Site…**

* * *

"GAAAAAAAH!"

Goku went crashing backwards through the air, spinning head over heels after suffering a furious blow from Bardock. Feeling lightheaded, Goku struggled, managing to right himself in midair, falling back towards the ground, skidding backwards, his feet slipping out from underneath him. Looking up, he barely had time to register the blurred orange shape rushing towards him and raise his arm in defense before he was attacked once more.

Bardock spun and delivered a kick to Goku from the side, powerful enough to spin him around, before he slammed into his exposed back, smashing him into the ground.

Fighting instincts kicking in, he managed to lock onto Bardock's energy, and vanished, narrowly avoiding the follow-up attack. Bardock sunk up almost to his shoulder into the stony surface, and Goku snapped back into existence above him. Taking advantage of Bardock's temporary immobility, Goku spun down far to the side of him, hitting the ground hard before rushing the Saiyan. Propelling a powerful blast from his feet for the extra force, and fist trailing with power, he slammed into Bardock with everything he had. A ripple of power radiated outwards at the powerful impact, shaking the very surface of the world. Flying out of the ground, Bardock turned around and skidded backwards. Goku was shocked at how little effect his attack had on his foe.

"I'm starting to wish I had thought of this when I was fighting Beerus" SSB Goku thought. "This power, it's completely unreal. It took Frieza absorbing the Dark Emeralds to reach this level of power…"

Bardock reached down and touched his side, where Goku had connected his punch. "Not bad, for a _minor_ God" he commented. "You had a bit of kick behind that one."

"Damn" SSB Goku swore. "I can't believe this. How can you be this powerful? None of the other Saiyans that lived on that planet were a fraction this strong."

"Well, I had a certain advantage that all the others one my homeworld didn't" SSGSS Bardock said.

"Advantage…" SSB Goku mused. "Being a Super Saiyan must have been a big advantage, but what else?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned with" SSGSS Bardock said. "The only thing you need to be concerned with is backing down before you get yourself killed."

"I won't let that happen!" SSB Goku said defiantly. "If I back down, you guys get to take this world, my home. And I can't allow that to happen."

"You don't have much of a choice" SSGSS Bardock noted. "This warrior's eye can tell, you're taxed beyond your limits. You can't fight much longer at any level, and you can barely scratch me."

"We'll just see about that!" SSB Goku shouted, using Instant Transmission to teleport behind Bardock. Arm raised, he began to drop his elbow down on his neck. Almost effortlessly, Bardock reached up, deflecting Goku's attack, wheeling around on the spot and striking Goku upwards with a powerful uppercut, knocking him high into the air. The sheer smoothness of the attack, a single movement, hit Goku as hard as he hit the ground after he hit the peak of his rise.

"And I think you see the evidence laid out before you" SSGSS Bardock chuckled cockily. "Your God's powers have been exhausted. You may have put up a relatively challenging fight before, but you are under my feet now." To prove his point, he stepped forward, as Goku attempted to sit up, and stomped on his chest, pushing him into the ground.

"Gah…" SSB Goku gasped. "Get… Off me…"

"You have been defeated" SSGSS Bardock said. "There is no point in continuing. I prefer to not have to knock you unconscious to secure my victory. Forfeit."

"I… Won't… Give… Up…" SSB Goku wheezed, clawing at the boot pressed down on him. Reaching his hand forward, he prepared a blast. Bardock reacted, kicking upwards and knocking the attempted attack away.

"So be it" SSGSS Bardock sighed. Grasping Goku by the front of his gi, he tossed him into the air, spinning around. Energy flaring, he darted upwards, grabbing Goku by the shoulders, flipping around and striking him from behind, knocking him even higher into the sky. Flying up after him once more, he sunk his fist into Goku's stomach, halting him in the air. Spinning around him, he gathered a blast in his palm. "You should have _just given up!_ " he roared, unleashing his blast, completely enveloping Goku, and striking him deep into the ground.

Down by the ship, Vegeta's eyes widened in shock. "No, Kakarot, he can't be down. No Saiyan save myself has even come close to surpassing him!"

"My son, Bardock is the strongest warrior ever seen on the face of our planet" SSG King Vegeta said. "I'm afraid that this God never stood a chance."

"Kakarot was a Saiyan too, you know" Vegeta said, glaring at his father.

At this, the king's eyes widened. "Another Saiyan? Here?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Please, don't tell me you didn't notice the fact that my hair had taken on the same tone as his when I was transformed. We obtained the power of gods long before you were revived, and we don't need to perform a ritual each time to become one."

"..." SSG King Vegeta looked over. "I see, I can see it now, which makes me wonder how I didn't before." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. It appears that your warrior has fallen."

Vegeta closed his eyes. Goku's God Ki was still there, barely noticeable. Some shred of his consciousness was still active, keeping him in an empowered state so that he didn't succumb to his wounds. "He's… Down…" he realized.

And Bardock seemed to agree. Descending, he landed on the ground before the two of them. "And, as it would appear, this planet's warrior has been defeated" SSGSS Bardock announced. "The challenge has been conquered, the planet is ours."

Vegeta's fist tightened, and wisps of blue power flared up around him. "This cannot, be happening" he growled. "That clown…"

"I am sorry, my son" SSG King Vegeta said. "But the rules, are in fact, the rules. You cannot interfere with our taking the planet now, I'm afraid."

Vegeta's anger nearly exploded, and his hair flared blue. The ground cracked beneath his feet. "There must be a way" he demanded. "A second challenge, you obviously still have energy to spare!"

"Sorry, Prince" SSGSS Bardock said. "But I have errands to run."

"What are you-" SSB Vegeta began to say, before a power surged through the ground, tremors running beneath his feet. His sense detected a powerful energy coming to life, and before he could pinpoint it, the pit that had been formed by Goku's body blazed, and rubble flew skywards.

Crawling to his feet, Goku's aura began to rise once more. "I… Can't… Let… You… Win…" he grunted, his voice filled with determination.

Bardock's eyes widened. "My, you're quite stubborn, aren't you?"

Chuckling lightly, Goku nodded. He took a deep breath. "You know, I get excited, whenever I fight someone strong like you" he said. "But being excited for a fight only gets me into one. To win, I need a reason, a drive."

Clenching his fist, Goku's aura flared further, and the ground began to shake lightly. "If I lose here, the Earth as I know it, will be gone. Ever since I was little, I would fight with my life to protect it from forces that threatened it. It's more than just the place I sleep at night, too."

Closing his eyes, he thought. "My family lives here" he said, as visions flashed through his mind. His wedding with Chi-Chi, training with Gohan in the Time Chamber, getting ready for Cell, and playing with Goten that one day he had one Earth while he was dead. "I love my family, my wife and my sons, more than anything. And all of my friends…" Krillin, Tien, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, Piccolo, Android 18, Bulma, Master Roshi, and everyone from Sonic's world flashed through his head. "They live here too, it's their home that's under attack."

Tensing his muscles, his eyes opened, flashing brightly. "I have a lot at stake here, too much to lose." Planting his feet in the ground, cracking beneath them, he felt his will grow. "And with all this riding on me, I have no choice. I need to go all in."

A ripple of power flashed into the sky, causing the clouds to darken, and knocking Vegeta, his father, and Bardock unsteady. He glared at Bardock straight in the eyes. "Even if I'm not sure that this will work, I have to give it my all, otherwise I lose anyways."

His aura flared into the sky, and he let out a powerful roar. "And that, that is why, I am still fighting. If I lose, I need to give it my all, but I know, that with all this riding on me, _I, can not, LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!_ "

The ground all around his completely vanished as his power vaporized it into nothingness. His tower of energy he was radiating condensed, shrinking around him to the point where it had almost disappeared. Then, Goku let out a battle cry, and it exploded outward, the blue power expanding around him, and a massive crimson power shaking the very foundation of the planet.

Bardock nearly fell over as Goku powered up. The swirling blue and crimson aura lit up the entire area in a powerful glow. Power still growing, Goku stopped shouting, and looked at Bardock straight in the eye. "Now then, ready for Round 2?"

* * *

 **Shoutout to Rell for giving me a laugh. It's nice to see people enjoy my story enough to just wait for the update, rather than just be interested when a new one shows up. And just, the timing, I saw it just a little while before I was getting ready to upload too, heh.**

 **I won't apologise for taking so long to update. Not to sound callous, but I am still working on this story whenever possible. College life is tough, and I'm pretty sure I have at least some readers who can sympathise.**

 **Back to the chapter, I am sorry if it wasn't as much as you were expecting. In all honesty, this chapter was mainly meant for Sonic to get back in the game, so there may not be as much Goku v Bardock action as you would have liked. But hopefully, you enjoyed what there was. And I hope I have you on the edge of your seats with that ending,** _ **muhuhuhahahahah.**_ **I'm not sure when the next update will be. With any luck, things won't take over a month per chapter after now, but no guarantees.**

 **And yes, I know Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan was the original name for Super Saiyan Blue. However, since we now are calling it Super Saiyan Blue, I figured it was a perfect fit. I may have taken a bit of creative liberty, but hey, that's all Fanfiction is, after all. Also, orange hair because... Yellow, and red... I'll stop now.**

 **And just something, real quick. This arc won't last much longer, and soon after it, we'll have the God of Destruction's tournament. Here are a few things that I'm going to be dropping about it for now:**

 **\- The only fighters for Universe 7 from the original roster will be Goku and Vegeta. No Buu, no Piccolo, and for damn sure, no Monaka.**

 **\- All three hedgehogs will be participating in the battle, however, without Pure Forms. As you know, no outside gear in the tournament, so they'll be limited to unlocked power and Super forms.**

 **\- There will be a time skip between now and the Tournament, which means they will have time to train, and Tails and Knuckles will be back by then.**

 **\- I'm planning to increase the number of fighters on each side to 6 or 7, for a few others I wanted to add in on their side. Gohan, who, as you have seen, I am piecing back together, and, this next one is a bit of a spoiler, so skip this part if you don't want to see it: spoilerspoilerspoilerBardockspoilerspoilerspoiler**

 **\- Don't ruin it for others that want to be spoiler free by naming it in a review, just saying.**

 **\- Obviously, if I increase it to 6 or 7, I need new fighters for the other side. Spoilers here too, but I may need your help with this part. Universe 6 will have a Majin fighter, however, if I do 7, I am having trouble coming up with a 7th. I considered a Namekian, but I wasn't sure if that was too basic. I had trouble coming up with any other ideas besides a Namekian. Tell me what you think or any ideas you had (but please, don't go too overboard. I do like writing with an element of realism, as you know).**

 **And that's about all for now. I hope you liked that little glimpse of the future. But anyways, guys, I sure hope you enjoyed that chapter. You know me, I always enjoy a review, and until next time, have a good life, and peace!**


	36. A Chaotic Finish

**Landing Site…**

* * *

" _HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"_ Goku screamed at the top of his lungs, the planet shaking beneath his feet.

The ground fissured, rose, collapsed, and was utter pandemonium as the power Goku was exerting shook it to its core. Ripples of energy flew out from Goku so strong that spires of stone vanished into nothingness as they were struck by it. And the same waves of energy forced Bardock almost to his knees.

"Wha, what is this?" SSGSS Bardock asked. He didn't need a working scouter to tell that his opponent was powering up to extreme levels, far beyond what he was at before.

Goku floated just above the ground, a blue aura so bright it almost glowed white shining around him, as a massive pillar of crimson energy, sparking violently and piercing the sky itself, surrounded him around it. His muscles tensed, and he stopped screaming, but the power coming out from him didn't grow any less powerful. "Now, then, are you ready?" SSB Goku asked.

Shocked, Bardock quickly fell into a fighting stance. And before he could react, one final wave of energy shot out around Goku. "It's time!" SSB Goku roared. " _KAIOKEN!"_

Vanishing at speeds that would shock true gods, Goku rushed forward and swung heavily at Bardock. Hardly able to react, Bardock deflected the attack before kicking upwards, striking Goku in the bottom of the chin and sending him spinning up into the air, yet when he stopped, he didn't even appear to feel it. "Well then, EVEN FASTER!" he shouted, pushing Bardock back with sheer force again. " _KAIOKEN TIMES THREE!"_

Somehow coming in with even more speed than before, Bardock didn't have time to even blink this time, before he was slammed into the ground, hacking as the wind was knocked out of him. Goku reappeared in front of him, grabbing his wrist and spinning, flinging Bardock high into the air.

Springing off the ground himself, Goku launched forward and moved ahead of the Saiyan, before twisting and sinking his elbow deep into the gut of his opponent. Moving back for a second, he left Bardock, barely floating in the air as he tried to regain his lost breath and energy. Goku wasn't smirking at the idea of a good fight anymore. He was serious now. "I told you" SSBKx3 Goku said. "I cannot lose."

Bardock glared up, breathing heavily. "I don't believe it…" he muttered. "If you could access this kind of power, then why didn't you use it before?"

The Kaioken energy flared across Goku's arm. "To be honest, this is a last resort" he said. "I wasn't even sure this would work, but when you made me choose between the risk of using this technique, or losing the planet, it was an easy choice."

Bardock stood up straighter. "I heard you yell the words "times three…"" he noted. "You aren't telling me that you have the power to multiply your power level at will?"

"Yeah, that's right" SSBKx3 Goku said. "It's a special move I learned long ago. It's always been risky, but by now, I'm able to do more with it than I used to be able to."

Bardock's eyes narrowed in an analytic way. "...Even so, there must be limits…" he said. "No warrior can stand too much power, you must have a maximum that would destroy you."

"And your point is?" SSBKx3 Goku asked.

Bardock's energy flared again. "The power, this power of a Super Saiyan God, it still has more to give. And I'll use everything I have to push you to your breaking poi-"

Goku launched forward and slammed his fist into Bardock's gut, causing him to reel in the air. "And usually, I'd let you have your shot at full power" he said lowly into Bardock's ear. "But this time, threatening my family, my friends, and all the innocents, I won't give you the chance." As his energy flared again, his gaze hardened, and the last thing he said to his opponent was. "Times Five!"

Spinning around, he landed a serious roundhouse kick on the back of Bardock's head, before blasting him back the the planet with a _kiai._ He moved faster than Bardock fell, meeting the meteoring Saiyan with a powerful uppercut, knocking him into a backflip in the air. Gathering a ball of energy in his palm, he thrust forward and unleashed a barrage of powerful blasts, detonating against him repeatedly and enshrouding him in smoke. Flying back out of the cloud, Goku pursued, and smacked him down into the ground.

Bardock struggled to get up after Goku's blinding assault, but he had some assistance. He felt himself be picked up by the front of his armor, and was met with the furious gaze of the angry Goku. "Now, I'll give you a chance" SSBKx5 Goku said. "Surrender, and I'll let you and your posse of Saiyans leave in peace. Don't make me end this for good."

Bardock struggled to break free in a futile manner, and Goku simply gripped him tighter, pulling him in a way that put more pressure on his chest. "A while back, you were toying with me" he said. "Be glad that I don't play such cruel games. You can either go free, and live out your life, or keep fighting, and make me finish the job. It's your choice. Power down, and I'll know you're surrendered."

Bardock grunted. "I… Can't… Surrender…" he said. "I… Need… to stay…"

"You aren't threatening this world in any form" SSBKx5 Goku demanded. "Last chance!"

Bardock shook his head. "I-"

"Stand down, Bardock!"

Goku and Bardock both looked back in shock at King Vegeta. Vegeta, standing right next to his father, was also surprised. King Vegeta stared them back. "My warrior forfeits. You win, Goku, was it?"

Bardock gasped. "Sir, I-"

"No comments, Bardock" SSG King Vegeta said. "It is obvious now that this warrior is beyond your capabilities to handle, and there is no need for this to result in your death."

Vegeta looked at his father. "Now isn't this different than your normal attitude?" he scoffed. "Whatever happened to fighting until the last breath?"

King Vegeta chuckled. "I am simply returning the favor. Bardock is the reason we were able to get this far, after all." He looked to the battle. "We were ill-equipped to take on the planet's warriors. And looking back on my time while I was out of this sphere gave me reconciliation as to how harsh I was with my subjects. I wish to rectify that."

Seeming satisfied with his father's response, Vegeta gave Goku a look. Nodding, Goku dropped Bardock on the ground, before his crimson glow faded. Immediately, he collapsed, panting hard, muscles twitching.

King Vegeta looked at Goku, surprised. "Hold up…" he said. "He was this close to keeling over?"

"Not quite" Vegeta said. "I have experience with that technique of his…" he growled a little, remembering the humiliation he was shown back when he first arrived to Earth. He pushed it down easily, he was no longer that man. "It's called his Kaioken. He can use it to multiply his fighting prowess temporarily, but after prolonged or excessively high usage, it takes a great toll on the body of the user."

"So, a brief addition of intense empowerment?" SSG King Vegeta. "It sounds like a handy skill for a warrior to master…"

"I doubt you'll be able to teach it to your warriors" Vegeta cut his father off. "Only a few on this planet know the ability. The only other being capable of teaching it is a being known as a Kai." He looked at his father. "If your knowledge is apt enough for knowing of Gods, surely you must know what a Kai is."

"An overseer of the universe, yes" SSG King Vegeta nodded.

Goku flew over, Bardock draped over his shoulder, before depositing him at King Vegeta's feet. "Here's your fighter" he huffed out. "I assume that you'll call off your men now?"

King Vegeta frowned slightly. "That was the deal we made…" he said. "And you completed the challenge, so I suppose I have to honor it."

"So quit stalling" Vegeta demanded. "Every second is another catastrophe that could happen in a part of our world. And I swear, if your men touched my wife or son…"

King Vegeta started a bit. "You, you have a family, here?"

Vegeta's hair flared blue. "Yes, and if you don't give the cease and retreat order this second, then I'll knock you down, take the scouter, and give the order myself" he threatened. "I don't care if we share blood. Now, _do it!"_

King Vegeta nodded. "Right" he said. Raising up his hand, he pressed a button on the side of the device attached to his head. "Hello. Yes. This is an order from your King. All of you must now-"

Goku and Vegeta sensed it before it happened. A flash of movement, a burst of energy, and a thin beam flew by at lightning speed. Before any of them could react, it pierced straight through King Vegeta's scouter, barely missing his head, shattering the device. " _Gah!"_ SSG King Vegeta shouted.

Goku turned around, shouting and flaring his energy, before roaring in pain and falling back to the ground. Vegeta's blue energy flared as high as it could go beside him. "I should have known that you'd show your ugly mug sooner or later" he growled.

Bardock gasped. "No… It's, it's that…" he too grunted in pain, falling back onto the ground, and his hair fell flat, orange glow deepening back to red, barely able to hold onto consciousness.

King Vegeta glared into the air. "So, you really are still around, after all?" he asked gruffly.

A purple, smoking finger, retracted, as the evil emperor himself looked down at the group. "Well well well, it appears that I've stumbled upon a trope of wild monkeys" Golden Frieza laughed maliciously, floating in his pod. "And pure-breds at that, a rare find nowadays."

"Gah…" SSB Goku gasped. "I should have known, that you'd show up…" Struggling, trembling violently, he stood up. "You coward, waiting until the fight is done…"

"Just like an ape, to call strategy cowardice" Golden Frieza said. "And please, do you truly feel that you are in a position to take me on?"

Fighting through the pain, Goku's aura flared crimson once more. "Yes, I, AM!" he roared, placing his hands by his side. "KAAA… MEEE… HAAA… MEEE-AHHHHHhhh!"

The glow that had sprung up in his hands faded quickly as another Death Beam pierced him through the shoulder. "Now, let's revisit that" Golden Frieza said tauntingly.

Pod floating lower, Frieza approached the group of Saiyans. "Well now, isn't this just a delicious situation we have here?" he asked, speaking over Goku's agony. "Oh, and the irony, this is just too sweet to pass up."

King Vegeta's aura flared. "I'd say it's about time for me to get my hands dirty" he roared, hand crossed across his shoulder, glowing with a vivid purple energy. "Frieza, this time, I will not fall to you!"

Thrusting his hand forward, King Vegeta unleashed his most powerful Orga Blaster towards Frieza, colliding and exploding against the tyrant. Lowering his hand, King Vegeta nodded curtly. "You fool, presenting yourself before me" he scoffed.

"Reverse that statement, my simian opposite" a voice rang out from the smoke.

As quickly as it came, the smoke faded away, and a completely unscathed Frieza came out. Dusting a slight bit of soot off his chest, he sighed. "You know, I would hope a fight against the only four Saiyans to ever stand up to me would be better than this."

King Vegeta's eyes widened. "No… How in the world did-"

"I take that weak attack of yours?" Golden Frieza finished. "Simple, had you made your move a second sooner, perhaps it might have been uncomfortable to take head on."

"A… Second… Sooner…" King Vegeta said slowly, his words sinking in.

Vegeta glanced back at his father. "This is just peachy…" he muttered.

King Vegeta's red aura had faded. His hair had darkened once more, and his eyes had returned to their normal color. "My powers, they have left me" King Vegeta growled.

"Which means that we only have one monkey left standing" Golden Frieza said airily. "Well now, Vegeta, are you ready to let your father see me take you again?"

Vegeta snapped, and his powers exploded outwards. "You bastard, Frieza!" he roared. "This time, I will tear you limb from limb!"

And with that, he rushed at Frieza, blue energy coursing around him like a hurricane. Darting low, Vegeta came up swinging, but his fist was caught by Frieza. Hand sparking, Vegeta unleashed a point-blank Big Bang Attack from his trapped hand. Feeling the pressure around his wrist release, Vegeta backed up through the air as Frieza skidded backwards through the smoke. Flipping backwards, he landed on the ground and spread his arms wide. "FINAL FLASH!" he roared, unleashing the massive red and yellow swirling blast of energy towards the tyrant. Frieza barely saw it coming, before he was enveloped in the godly equivalent of a nuclear explosion.

Gripping his fist tightly, he rushed straight into the dust, explosive energy coiled around his hand. He swung as he darted in, and vanished. And at that moment, things went wrong…

Vegeta was sent soaring out backwards, black electricity coursing through his body as he landed hard. And pitch-black light leaked out of the dust, blowing it away with one massive explosion of dark energy, and Frieza stepped out, body swirling with it all.

Splaying his hands wide, he looked down on Vegeta. "Now, did you honestly think things would be that easy?" he asked tauntingly. "I never go anywhere without a contingency plan in play, and I must say, I may very well be getting used to this Chaos Energy."

Disappearing in a flash of dark light, he reappeared before Vegeta. "And unlike last time, I won't give you the chance to fight back" he whispered, just before a thin beam of dark pink energy pierced his chest.

Vegeta's eyes opened in shock, pupils dilated, mouth half-open in a sound of shock. Leaning back, Frieza kicked out in front of him, sending the Saiyan Prince flying backwards, and landing at the feet of his father.

"My son…" King Vegeta gasped as Vegeta's hair fell back to black. "No…"

"Ohohohohoho" Golden Frieza laughed loudly. "Why did I ever bother letting my opponents use their power? It's so much more enjoyable to make them feel powerless!"

Goku, barely still having the power to remain awake, grunted, and reached into his pocket. He felt the small sphere in there, his Tempotara. But, he couldn't fuse. Vegeta was down, and he had the other one. There was no way he could get it from Vegeta, and they were too weak for Vegito to be able to stand a chance.

Noticing Goku move, Frieza's gaze shifted over to him. A calculating look appeared in Frieza's eyes as he scanned the group, and slowly, Frieza seemed to almost be attempting to contain a smile. "Oh my, could this be even better than I thought?" he asked with mirth. "OH, this, ah hah hah, hoh hoh hoh!"

Goku was easily angered by Frieza's laughter. "What's so funny, Golden Boy?" he asked, grunting at the effort it took to talk.

Frieza wiped a tear of mirth from his eyes. "This is even more golden than me" he laughed. "I can't believe, that this is just now coming to my light. The only 4 monkeys to ever stand up to me, split between two bloodlines!"

"What?" SSB Goku asked. "What are you saying?"

"Tell me…" Golden Frieza drawled out. "The entire time you've been battling this one, did you ever notice anything familiar about him?"

"No" SSB Goku said defiantly, with a hint of uncertainty. What was he talking about.

Frieza shook his head. "You always were the dimmest ape of the trope" he said. "I noticed something very familiar about you the first time we clashed on Namek. Your face was quite a familiar one, it was almost exactly the same as one Saiyan who stood up to be, just before I destroyed his pathetic planet."

"So?" SSB Goku asked.

Frieza glared at him. "Could you not be so idiotic for once? I am trying to enjoy your last few moments of breathing, and your ignorance is very irritating."

Behind Goku Bardock struggled to his feet, his hair having faded to black as his God powers faded as well. "You're not saying…" he muttered. He looked at Goku. "He said, 'the only 4 Saiyans to have ever stood up to him...' Are, are you a Saiyan?"

Goku turned around. "Yeah" he said with an obvious tone.

Bardock stepped forward, not even noticing Frieza anymore. "Your name…" he said. "It isn't a Saiyan name."

"No, I was given that name by my Grandpa Gohan, when he found me when I was just a baby" SSB Goku said. "What's so important about that?"

Bardock's eyes widened. "...Kakarot, is that, you?"

Goku's eyes hardened slightly. "Why does every Saiyan call me Kakarot?" he complained.

Bardock looked at Goku up and down. "Earlier, you compared yourself to the Prince… You're in a transformed state! But, it's you!"

Goku looked back and forth between Frieza and Bardock. "Does someone want to explain to me what's going on here? I'm completely lost."

"Isn't it obvious?" Golden Frieza asked mockingly.

"Kakarot…" Bardock said. "I, I'm your father."

Goku looked at Bardock in shock. "Wait, what?" he asked. "But, you can't be my dad. You're not old enough."

"He was also dead until recently" Golden Frieza pointed out. "The Otherworld keeps the skin soft, after all."

"And you were sent off the planet two days after you were born" Bardock said. "You had just left, when that bastard blew up the planet… And the last thing I saw was, a vision, of you fighting Frieza… And right then I knew, you had a future that I couldn't interfere in. But when we got a second chance at life, I knew, I had to find you."

"You say second chance as if it were random" Golden Frieza laughed. "Allow me to reveal one last thing to you all."

Making sure he had the attention of Bardock and King Vegeta, he revealed it to them. "It would seem that you owe your chance at life to me." Looking at the King, his smile grew. "And I was the one who made you want to take the planet, oh-so badly."

"What?!" King Vegeta roared.

"You see, I made sure that your warriors had the ability to make things easy on me" Golden Frieza said. "I knew, you wouldn't stand for anyone getting in your way. You found a path that allowed you to weaken the warriors facing me even further. Your other fighters have done a splendid job of taking care of the others. The brat of this one took a heavy blow. Shame, too. Had he lasted a minute longer, he may have avoided the God form just as I did."

"Gohan!" SSB Goku gasped.

"Oh, don't worry" Golden Frieza said, floating into the air. "Once I destroy all four of you, I'll be sure to kill your friends too. I don't need anyone getting in my way when I retake your warrior race for my army! So, you all can be together in the afterlife!"

"No, you bastard, I won't allow it!" Bardock shouted, energy forming in his hands.

"Oh, don't even try" Golden Frieza said. "Your power can hardly be compared as insect-sized to mine."

Gritting his teeth, Bardock lowered his hands. "Very good" Golden Frieza laughed. "Don't worry, you should all be together in just a minute, now! And out of my hair _for good!_ "

Hand raising high up behind him, a quickly ballooning ball of fiery energy began swirling atop his finger. The Supernova swelled to a massive size, more than twice as big as the one he used on Planet Vegeta. "And don't worry about your planet!" he said. "I'm keeping the explosion maintained. After all, even I pay my debts, and the bad Doctor has given me much."

Goku attempted to focus his energy, but the pain in his shoulder kept him from being able to do it properly. "Every fight I've been in, and this is how it ends…" SSB Goku grunted. Sighing, he let his power drop, and his hair fell back to black. "No, this isn't the end" he said. "One of the others will come back and defeat him, he won't stand for long."

"That's a healthy dose of optimism you have, there" King Vegeta commented. "I hope that it is not ill-kept."

"It's not just optimism, it's belief" Goku swore. "Someone else will always rise against evil, it's the balance of the universe."

"Then it's time to tip the scales!" Golden Frieza shouted down. "Good-bye, my nemeses. Go keep those brats company, and I'll be sure to send your families after you!"

Raising higher in the air, Frieza leaned back, the massive sun-like energy ball cradled in them. Then, he swung downwards, and the Supernova descended straight towards the four of them. The sky grew red, the heat intensified, and a powerful force rolled across the ground, pushing dust up. Goku stared straight at it, standing strong. He wouldn't let Frieza have to satisfaction of truly defeating him. He would go out bravely. "The Earth, is in your hands now…" he thought. "One of you, Gohan, Goten, or maybe Shadow, or-"

An earsplitting explosion shook the very foundation of his body, and all of them were blasted backwards. Skidding across the ground, Goku pushed himself up with difficulty, and he heard the others groan beside him. Vegeta's eyes cracked open. "What…" he muttered.

Looking around, Goku wondered what had happened. And then, he realized, something was happening to the attack Frieza launched, some force was colliding with it, almost splashed against the front of the Supernova. It had stopped floating towards the ground, and, he couldn't believe it, started moving backwards. His ears still ringing, he had a sudden suspicion. "Could it be?"

Another roaring explosion pierced the air, and a distortion shot through the sky, and the Supernova, detonated. Goku crossed his arms in front of him as he prepared for the explosion to burn towards them, but another miracle happened. The exploding attack vanished, reappearing much higher in the sky. The force buffeted them, but caused now harm, and now, Goku couldn't help but smile.

Frieza, however, looked bewildered and angry. "What just happened?"

" _I_ happened!" a full, echoing voice said, booming across the field from behind Frieza.

All five of them looked towards the source of the voice. One of the few of the many mountains still standing after the battles that had taken place, a white, glowing figure stood atop the spire. Shining red shoes, a calm blue aura, snow white fur, and sharp spikes curling up.

"You!" Golden Frieza chortled. "You've returned for more, have you?"

"You bet!" Pure Sonic shouted. He vanished, and flashed into existence, standing between the Saiyans and Frieza.

Goku was taken aback. "Sonic? You're here?"

"Hey, Goku" Pure Sonic greeted. "Sorry I'm so late, can you still fit me in for an appointment?"

Goku nearly laughed out loud, he had missed Sonic's nonchalant attitude. "I may just have an open slot" he responded.

"Good" Pure Sonic chuckled, facing Frieza. Suddenly, chills ran down Goku's spine. He could feel the anger radiating off of the hedgehog as if it were tangible.

Sonic took a step forward, foot piercing the fractured ground. "So…" he growled. "My friends that you killed are 'brats?' As if killing them wasn't enough, you mock them, and then try to kill even more?"

Frieza fell to the ground. "Of course" he laughed at Sonic. "Weaklings deserve no positives, after all."

"Then neither will you" Pure Sonic said. "This time, you won't be walking away free."

Frieza looked at Sonic, and chuckled. "Nice try, rat. That was a good bluff, but Nazo removed your special dark powers. You have nothing on me."

Sonic lowered his head. And he chuckled. "I've had a lot of time to think" he said. "And you know, I really must thank him." His head shot up, and his eyes flashed brightly. "Anger will still be my power, my drive, and this time, it can no longer consume me! You'll see, darkness means _nothing!"_

Frieza splayed his hands, dark aura flaring around him. "You shall see how wrong you were" he said. "The power of this darkened Chaos will be your undoing, once more!"

"Yeah, about that…" Pure Sonic said, pointing up behind Frieza.

Taking the bait, Frieza turned around, right into a hand with a glowing green ring. He started, and made to strike out, but suddenly, his power plummeted. The dark energy coursed off of him, into the hand of Shadilver. He stumbled in the air, quickly recovering. Energy gathered at his fingertip, and he launched a point-blank Death Beam. That missed as Shadilver vanished.

"Nice try, moron" Pure Shadilver taunted, hand sparking green and yellow. Thrusting forward, Frieza was blasted back to the planet by a powerful Psycho Spear, making him crash into the crust. He stood up, preparing for battle as Shadilver dropped down before him, with the Dark Emeralds surrounding him as he carried them..

As Frieza's energy flared, Shadilver shook his head. "Do you honestly think that I'd sully myself fighting _you?_ " he asked. "Please, now you just deserve this even more."

"Deserve what?" Golden Frieza asked. Shadilver pointed behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, Frieza saw nothing, until, a light shined above his head.

Sonic dived down out of the sky, Caliburn in hand, spinning downwards at the tyrant. "This time, I'll finish the job!" he shouted. Time slowed for everyone but himself, as he reached back, and spun forward, Caliburn flashing, and sliced straight down.

He rolled forward, Caliburn held low, behind Frieza, who stood still, shocked. "Not… Again…" Frieza wheezed, skin fading to white. His vision slowly began splitting…

Chaos aura flaring, Sonic spun around and sliced again, horizontally, going straight through Frieza's midsection. Channeling his power, Sonic began spinning like a tornado, blade flashing across Frieza as he hacked at him, multiple times per second. Spinning to a halt, small pieces of flesh floated in the air. Caliburn glowed with Sonic's power. Raising the sword high, the entire area was lit up as a beacon of power pierced the heavens, and the pieces floating in the air, disappeared.

Everyone except Shadilver looked on with gaping mouths as the light faded, and Sonic lowered his sword. The young hedgehog had a small sense of satisfaction. Even without the darkness within, he had fulfilled the promise he had made, back on that beachside cliff a month ago. Not a shred of the Arcosian survived, not even a particle.

Goku and Vegeta, more than anyone, were struck dumb. "Did, did he just…" Goku stuttered.

"And, did he do it like…" Vegeta asked, wide-eyed.

The two were remembering the exact same thing. A mechanical monarch, cut to pieces by a young Super Saiyan, and blasted with a wave of energy. Vegeta's eye actually twitched. "Please, tell me that did not just happen?" he asked.

"I, I think it did" Goku said, unable to believe it himself.

Letting out a sigh, Caliburn fell down, pointed at the ground. Looking over his shoulder, he nodded, and Shadilver split into two. "Ok, now that was some slick sword skills, Sonic" Pure Silver admitted. "You've got to teach me how to use one of those things."

"I'm just glad that bastard is gone" Pure Shadow said. "Good work."

"Yeah" Pure Sonic huffed. "I, I feel like he should have suffered just a little more, but no one deserves that much." He turned towards Shadow and Silver. "Besides, after the shape I left him in last time, it's not like he needed much more either way."

"True enough" Pure Shadow said, cracking a smile.

Silver let out sort of a forced breath, and his glow faded. He fell to all fours as the Chaos energy siphoned away, and vanished into the distance. "You were right Sonic, I could transform" he huffed. "How did you even last as long as you did last time is beyond me, though."

"Lots more practice with Chaos energy in the past" Pure Sonic chuckled.

"Fair enough, I didn't exactly have many chances to even look for the Chaos Emeralds in the fire and brimstone of my world" Silver admitted.

Shadow looked up at the gems he was supporting. "You know, this almost felt too easy? Did we just get these back just like that?"

"I guess" Pure Sonic shrugged. "The good news, is that now that we have them, maybe we can find a way to, well, put them back together, I guess."

"That won't be easy…" Pure Shadow muttered. "They've been apart for so long that they'll probably reject each other, these are Chaos Emeralds, we have Super Emeralds, and plus the fact that we don't know where to even _start_."

"Yeah, but we can do it" Pure Sonic said optimistically. "We always do, anyways."

Shadow glanced up at the black gems again, and shuddered. "Let's hurry up and head back, these things are giving me bad vibes…"

"Right…" Pure Sonic nodded. Looking over, he realized he had forgotten something. "Oh, we'd better go help them" he realized, seeing how beat up Goku and Vegeta were.

Following Sonic's gaze, Shadow and Silver nodded. The three of them jumped forward, landing before the four Saiyans. Besides Goku and Vegeta, there were two others behind them. Sonic noticed that the two newcomers flinched back when they landed.

Sonic glanced down at Goku, reaching down and helping him up. "Hey there" he said, nodding to him. He made a motion. "Do you need some help with these two?"

Goku looked confused, before realizing what Sonic meant. He shook his head. "Don't worry, the planet's safe now" he said.

The Saiyan with flat, spiky hair cleared his throat. "What is he, Kakarot?" he asked.

Sonic's eyes widened. "Ok, please tell me he didn't just say "what" am I?" he asked.

Goku tried to wave Sonic down, with much difficulty considering the hole in his shoulder. "Calm down, Sonic" he said. "He's…" he looked back, still having trouble believing it. "My dad."

Sonic blinked. He looked at Bardock. "You sure he's your father and not your twin?" he asked after taking a closer look at him. "You guys look almost exactly alike, well, when you're not transformed at least."

"Huh?" SSB Goku asked, before realizing the pressure that he had felt around him. "Oh, right…" With a sigh, be breathed out, and felt his energy fall. His hair fell down and faded, and suddenly, he fell back to the ground, groaning in pain as his muscles convulsed.

"What the heck happened?" Pure Sonic asked in shock. Shadow and Silver looked on in surprise, Bardock and King Vegeta looked apprehensive.

Only Vegeta didn't react. Leaning down, he grabbed Goku and hoisted him up over his shoulder. Glancing at him, he huffed. "Let me guess" he said. "Kaioken backlash?"

"Big time" Goku muttered, half delirious. "Big no-no, Super Saiyan Blue and Kaioken… Really strong, one hell of an aftermath though…"

Vegeta chuckled. "Go on, keep complaining about power" he said. Picking him up higher, he stumbled a bit, feeling the pain from the hole in his chest. "I hope that cat has some of those damn Senzus left" he groaned.

"I'm sure Dende can do something…" Goku muttered.

"Why are we still standing around?" Pure Shadow huffed. "Three of you are on death's door as it is."

"So what do you say we do?" King Vegeta asked.

"Simple" Pure Shadow said. "A simple matter of Chaos Control to take all of us somewhere where we can get some medical attention for you swiss Saiyans."

"Swiss?" King Vegeta asked.

"It's a saying from here" Pure Sonic said.

"The point is, we'll get you guys all fixed up, then we can see exactly what's going on" Pure Shadow said.

Something vanished. At first, they didn't notice it, but Shadow looked up and noticed something. "Sonic…" he muttered.

Sonic looked back at Shadow. "What?" he asked, stopping short as Shadow gave him a look. "You sure?"

"Who else would have done this?" Pure Shadow asked, nodding upwards.

Sonic looked up. "Um, what am I looking for."

"Something not there" he responded.

The Dark Emeralds were gone, vanished from existence. Sonic wheeled around on the spot, hand outstretched towards the Saiyans. "You guys are going" he said.

"But So-" Goku began to protest, but with a wave of his hand, Sonic warped them all away with Chaos Control.

Sonic looked at Silver. "You can't fight right now, you need to go too" he said.

"I can still fi-" Silver began to say, before Sonic did the same thing to him that he did to the others just before.

Now that they were all alone, Sonic and Shadow shared a look that rarely appeared on their faces. A flash of fear flickered across their eyes. "Can you still sense it?" Pure Sonic asked.

"He's all around us" Pure Shadow said. "He's spreading the energy."

Sonic nodded, glancing around nervously. "Should we fuse?" he asked.

Shadow looked over at him. "Not yet…" he said. "We're still in our Pure Forms… But still, we don't know the extent of his powers now."

" _NOR CAN YOU COMPREHEND IT!"_

Blue and red auras flared up around the two hedgehogs, and they went back to back, looking around. "Still hiding in the shadows, coward?!" Pure Shadow called out.

"Ever since the bastard sneak attacked us, he's been doing nothing but that" Pure Sonic muttered. "Why shouldn't he stop now?"

The air became thick with negative energy, and it all seemed to congeal at a single point, far across the field from them. Dark matter swarmed into a single spot, forming a black and purple core, before bursting apart, waves of the bad vibes rolling outwards and blowing the aura of the two hedgehogs away. They stood their ground against the tide, pushing against it.

Sharp yellow eyes, and a hardened red body stood there, and Nazo took a deep breath. "Ah, now this feels familiar" he said.

"Then you should remember how this ends" Pure Sonic said. "Your butt kicked to the next world!"

"So full of confidence" Nazo laughed. "I look forward to inverting it."

Holding his hand out to the side, Caliburn flashed back into existence. Spinning Caliburn expertly, Sonic faced down Nazo. "You can't do anything to us!" Pure Sonic said, voice slightly off. "We defeated you once, and we'll do it again, even easier this time!"

"Such bravado, and so misguided" Nazo said. "Do you honestly think that I have remained the same as I was before?"

"You don't seem that different" Pure Shadow scoffed. "You only have the Dark Emeralds you stole back, we have the power of limitless light at our disposal. How do you even expect to stand a chance against us this time?"

Caliburn dipped low as Sonic got into a ready stance. "Yeah, come on, run away before you totally lose your dignity this time" he said.

"You fools underestimate me once more" Nazo said lowly. "I once told you lower life forms that I do not stand for anything to be stronger than me. Do you honestly think that the student of mine that you killed was an exception?"

The air grew cold, and the darkness flashed around Nazo. Dark clouds formed in the sky, and black bolts of energy shot down and struck the ground, sending tremors through the stony surface. Sonic and Shadow kept their balance, but trembled still. Seven bolts darted down out of the sky and stopped just above Nazo, flashing with a dark light as the Dark Emeralds reappeared.

"I was right, you did steal them back!" Pure Shadow growled.

"You should have kept a better hold on them" Nazo shot back. "You have absolutely no real grip on these things, they might of well have been greased for how easy it was."

Sonic glanced sideways. "Listen Shadow, it doesn't matter" he said. "We'll thrash him and snatch them right back."

Shadow looked at Sonic. "...I could have given us an easier time if I had paid more attention to the Emeralds…" he said.

"Blame it on that creep, not yourself" Pure Sonic retorted. "Come on, there's no way he can take on the both of us, no matter how strong he's gotten."

"Oh, are you not even going to give me the dignity of a fair fight?" Nazo asked sarcastically. "I play fair, unlike the previous enemy you faced, and two on one doesn't seem very sportsman-like, now does it?"

Sonic couldn't help it, he laughed out loud, irking the red demon across the field greatly. "Ohoh, really, a fair fight?" he asked. "I'm just gonna forget about the time that you tried to destroy the Earth right in the middle of the fight, and go with things here." He nodded at Shadow. "What do you say, let's just give him the one on one fight he seems to want."

With each passing moment, Sonic was thinking more clearly. Nazo may have been one of the few enemies to ever truly make him fear them, but that didn't matter. They could do things just like last time, and they'd end up the same way.

Shadow nodded. "That sounds about right. One on one, yeah, sure."

Sheathing Caliburn again, Sonic and Shadow stood strong against the tide of darkness radiating off of Nazo. "This time, you'll stay gone" Pure Sonic said lowly.

"You're gonna fly right past the next world and beyond when we're done with you" Pure Shadow swore.

Without even thinking about it, the two synchronized. Jumping apart, their Chaos auras flared, and their own force of light began pushing back the darkness. One final push, and the fateful words were uttered.

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

* * *

 **Capsule Corp…**

* * *

Goku gasped, and looked around. "What… Where…?" he stopped short as he realized the dome-shaped building rising up behind him. "No, why'd he send us back here like that?"

Vegeta looked around. "Where is the little rat anyways?" he asked. "Did he just try to ditch us?"

Their thoughts were interrupted when another bright flash of light took place right next to them, and the silver-furred hedgehog dropped to the ground next to them. Getting up unsteadily, he shook his head. "Nice, Sonic…" he muttered. "Real smooth, sending me off like that…"

"Silver?" Goku asked. "What's going on here?"

"Iblis if I know" Silver shrugged. "Those two looked like they were about to have some sort of panic attack, and just gave me an involuntary Chaos Control jump. I am _totally_ lost here."

"You're not the only one" Bardock said, looking around. "Where, are we?"

"West City" Goku answered briefly, before turning back to Silver. "You don't have anything?"

"Sorry, but no" Silver apologised. "They've never done anything like that before, at least as far as I know."

"We have to find them again then!" Goku demanded. "If something spooked them enough to send us away like that, then they need help." He stood up, but was quickly back on the ground as his body was wracked with pain. "Damn…" he muttered.

There was a sound of sliding doors up above them, and the next second, there was a sigh above them. "You know, just once, it would be nice to see you guys come back from a fight without having something broken" a smart voice said.

Bulma leaned over the railing to the terrace of the building, looking down at the group beneath her. "Where's everyone else?"

"Scattered across the planet, probably in more ways than one" Vegeta said darkly, standing up, still shaky from the wound from Frieza's Death Beam. "The threat has passed, though."

"Whew, that's good" Bulma let out a breathe of relief. At this moment, she noticed that there were two others besides Goku and Vegeta. "So, you brought home some friends?" She eyed them warily, seeing their tails and recognizing them as Saiyans.

Vegeta glaced at his father. "You could say-" he began saying.

At that moment, a powerful tremor ran through the ground, knocking everyone on their rears. Bulma barely held onto the railing. "I tHoUgHt YoU SaId ThAt ThInGs WeRe OvEr!" she shouted down, voice shaking from the quaking planet.

Goku closed his eyes and did his best to focus, feeling out the energies surrounding him as much as he could, but stopped short as he felt a massive dark, cold pocket spread over them. Vegeta grunted beside him, and Goku knew that he had felt it to.

Head jerking to the side, he locked eyes with Vegeta. "That feels a _lot_ like-"

"Negative Chaos Energy…" Vegeta agreed. "But, I've never known anyone but Sonic to have it on this scale, and even then, that wasn't just him."

"But then… Who else could it be?" Goku asked. "I mean, Sonic can't do that Dark Form anymore, so it shouldn't-" he stopped short. "Vegeta, I think I know why Sonic sent us away."

"What?" Vegeta asked.

"We've never seen him act like that, and now there's all of this going on?" he explained. "Who else out of anyone we know could use this darkness?"

Vegeta fell silent for a moment, before growling. "Of course, that demon of theirs…" he realized. "That weakling shouldn't be a problem though, not with the level those two were at."

"Yeah, maybe they just wanted us out of the way" Goku said.

King Vegeta looked back and forth between them. "Are you two speaking in riddles?" he asked.

Vegeta huffed. "No, we just have much more knowledge than you" he said. "All you need to know is to hit the deck if those two that sent us here come charging in, clashing with a red demon."

King Vegeta blinked, seeming even more confused now. "Oh never mind it" Vegeta sighed.

Goku turned away, looking towards where the dark energy was coming from. It was just as strong, but something was different now, there was another side to it. He could only hope that was a good sign. Sonic and Shadow knew how strong they had become, so if they reacted so strongly to Nazo showing up, they must have had a good reason to. "Good luck" he wished them.

* * *

 **Landing Site…**

* * *

"It's good to see you again, Nazo!" Pure Shadic yawned. "Maybe you can make us warm up a bit this time. I mean, come on, last time, you were barely a challenge."

Nazo glared at the figure across the field. "Ah yes, Shadic, I was wondering when I would see your face here again."

Shadic stretched his hands high into the air. "Ah, and it feels good to be here too, thanks for asking" he said. Pulling down his arms, he beckoned Nazo at him. "Well, you seem pretty confident. Come on, show us some more of that."

The Dark Emeralds continued to circle and spark around Nazo's head. Looking up at them, Nazo snatched one and held it in his hands. "You know, last time we faced off, you two had an ability that I did not, and I must say, it shocked me greatly." Looking up at them, he continued. "Do you recall which it was? I voiced it quite clearly."

"Yeah, of course I do" Pure Shadic said. "You were pretty impressed that we could go Hyper by turning the Chaos Emeralds into Super Emeralds."

"Indeed" Nazo laughed lowly. "That skill, it lead to my downfall. And, once I came back, I remembered. And what better way to prevent a second downfall than to learn the very technique that caused the first?"

"Heh, nice bluff" Pure Shadic said. "But I see a couple problems with your theory. You need a Master Emerald to enhance Chaos Emeralds, and even if you had one, I doubt the power would be near enough to combat me."

Nazo broke into malicious laughter. "Oh, and do you not remember my origins?" he asked. The Dark Emeralds lowered themselves around him. "I am _the embodiment of the negative energy in the Master Emerald!"_

Waves of darkness rolled through the air, falling to the ground like mist off of the Dark Emeralds, and the planet began to shake. Shadic didn't move, but was rather shocked when each emerald began swelling in size. "No way…" he muttered. "He's actually doing it…"

The dark energy rolling off of the Emeralds became too thick, and completely enshrouded Nazo and the Emeralds in a plume of inky darkness. Seconds later, a massive wave of energy rolled outwards, pushing Shadic back. "Ugh, what is this?" he asked.

The second he asked, there was a motion, and something came charging out of the darkness. Reacting swiftly, Shadic kneed upwards, barely catching a strike from Nazo before it connected. The power of the connecting blows resonated powerfully, cracking the ground beneath them.

Shadic jumped backwards through the air, getting a read on Nazo. "I see you've taken a page out of my book and absorbed the Emeralds themselves" he said. "And not just their power."

"Ah, there is so much more power to be gained like this, I found" Hyper Nazo cackled.

Shadic touched his knee. "Shoot, I may have underestimated him just a little bit" he thought. "He really knows how to put those Emeralds to work."

Nazo cracked his neck. "Well, Shadic, now it would seem that it is your turn to show your bravado." Getting down into a fighting stance, he readied himself. "Well, my nemesis, are you ready for our true battle?"

Eyes narrowing, Shadic thrust his hands downwards, a green aurora springing up around him as he too got ready. "Fine then, Nazo, let's dance" he said. "Try to keep up."

"You'll soon find that statement quite ironic, I'm afraid" Hyper Nazo said.

The field grew still, the only motion coming from the dust the two powers were kicking up around them. The two forces, the embodiment of Dark Chaos itself versus the light in the darkness, were at a face off once more, the Earth on the line. If Shadic lost, no one else would be in a position to stop Nazo. Goku and Vegeta were weakened, the other Saiyans were powered down, the other Z-Fighters were nowhere near the level to approach Nazo, and even if Frieza had wished to stop Nazo from stealing his glory, Sonic had made sure that he wouldn't be interfering. They were the last line of defense.

Shadic's foot moved slightly, and at once, the two blasted forward, and clashed with energies so strong that the world around them exploded, debris flying outward.

* * *

 **I can't help but feel things were anti-climactic in this chapter… Sorry. Goku's Kaioken put Bardock in his place.**

 **Now, as a quick note for you DBZ analysts out there who say that Kaioken x5 shouldn't be enough to defeat Bardock, let me explain my headcanon. At higher levels, such as Fusion or God transformations, the Super Saiyan multiplier works differently. Super Saiyan is considered 50x normally, right? I'm pretty sure base Gotenks wasn't less than 50x Super Buu, just saying. So I applied that here, Bardock wasn't 50x a God.**

 **Another note. I'm seeing a lot of people requesting me to do the Goku Black arc mixed with Scourge. Ok, I'll be the first to say, that is an amazing idea. However, I already have a plan for the story, and that doesn't fit, not to mention, I'm not trying to completely rip off Super. I'm already taking Resurrection F and the Tournament, aren't I? But more than that, guys, as much as I know about Sonic, the one material I haven't had access to is the Archie Comics. I've heard of Scourge and the Dark Mobius. I've heard of Fleetway Super Sonic. But I hardly know jack about them, ok? That's just the way it is, I can't do anything about material with the Archie Comics.**

 **But back to the story. Guys, I had to let Sonic get the kill on Frieza. He murdered Tails and Knuckles after all. I predict equal parts hate and love for the particular way Sonic finished him, but I'm going to expect a lot of flack, so go on.**

 **And about Nazo, many of you are probably wondering how he can do anything against Pure Shadic. When he trained Frieza, Frieza wasn't the only one growing stronger. In a basic, equal fight, Nazo would be around the level of Golden Frieza. Powered up, a hair stronger. Going Hyper Dark… You see where this is going.**

 **But that's about all for now. I'm going to say that at this point, the Tournament is less than 5 chapters away, and similar to Super, I predict that this was the part you guys have been looking forward to. And I'm going to tell you now, I have a surprise ending in store for you all 0.0**

 **So, at the moment, please, drop a review on your way out, I always like those, and until the next update, enjoy yourselves. Cya!**


	37. The Worst of Rivals

**Merry Christmas!**

* * *

An explosion rippled outwards, as a solid square mile around completely vanished in a flash of energy. Brilliant, bright flashes of white and black lightning lit the air as the two forces collided.

Shadic flew forward with his full force, fist extended and pressed against Nazo's. Clenching his jaw, a Chaos ripple flew outwards, and he darted backwards, having less than a split second head start before Nazo activated his own Chaos Control to counter, but he got the breathing room he needed.

"He shouldn't be this strong" Pure Shadic thought, unleashing a torrent of Chaos energy straight at the demon charging him, which was easily deflected off the back of his hand. LAnding on the ground, he braced himself as Nazo clashed with him again. The two traded blows at lightning speed, neither landing a single one as they countered each other.

The two sprung away, across the ground before darting into the air, cloaking in powerful auras as they flew skyward. Shadic arced through the air, Boosting straight into Nazo and knocking him away, spinning back through the air, but wasn't able to recover quick enough to avoid a large sphere of black energy striking him back.

The two attacks distracting the fighters, Chaos Control ended, and the dust that had been disturbed from the first blow settled to the ground.

Shaking it off quickly, Shadic and Nazo put on the speed, sending a sonic boom rocketing over the land below as they broke through the atmosphere, flying out into the cold vacuum of space, the Earth below them. The two had been fighting for five seconds.

Shadic let out a strained breath. "This makes no sense" he said. "How is it that I can't keep ahead? His power shouldn't be greater than mine, even if he was more powerful than he claimed…"

He felt as if he had trouble breathing, while Nazo appeared to be in top form. "You haven't realized it?" Nazo asked. "You really are a barbaric rat, after all."

Shadic growled. "Barbaric rat?" he muttered dangerously. A sudden rainbow energy flared to life around him, and Nazo went flying away in half a blink.

Shadic circled around the demon with FTL Attack, and used the combined momentum of Nazo's flying body and his own speed to jab his elbow into the back of Nazo's neck, hard. Crackling yellow energy filled his free hand, as he blasted a point-blank Chaos Wind straight into his back, which sparked with black energy as it formed, and the sheer force knocking him several miles through the void.

Shadic looked at his hand. "Clever devil" he said. It wasn't noticeable before, but as he focused, he could sense the energy in the air. "He's pulling the same stunt Eggman did…"

"I guess I overestimated you" a drawling voice sounded off behind him. "You didn't figure it out as quick as I would have hoped."

Shadic turned in the air to face his opponent. Nazo had returned with Chaos Control, arms crossed. Floating close, Shadic closed the distance until he and Nazo basically stood nose to nose. "Your little light show with the Dark Super Emeralds wasn't just to be flashy" he said. "You're discharging the energy, diffusing it into the air to weaken my positive energy with your tainted variety."

"Bra-vo" Nazo said slowly, sarcastically. "I assume that it's the part of you that is shadow that was able to figure that out. Sonic wouldn't have been that intelligent."

"You'd be surprised" Pure Shadic said. "You can't keep up, so the next best thing is to lower the level you have to keep up with."

The strain he felt was his body attempting to repel the darkness naturally. The dark force wasn't nearly as strong as the Master Chaos energy flowing through his body, unlike before, where the Emeralds had been completely cancelled out. He was weakened, but not completely out.

Chuckling lightly, Shadic floated back through the air. "You know, Nazo, you're a piece of work" he said. "But it's no matter. You held the advantage last time, and guess what, we pulled through. How do you think things will go this time. I mean, sure, you've been hitting the gym, but I'm nearly as strong as the Gods of this world."

His eyes closed, and he took a deep breath. "You can try all the tricks you want, Redhead" he taunted. "But I promise you, things are going to end the exact, same, way!" Eyes flashing open, a rainbow aurora flew around him, causing the space around him to smoke as his power collided with Nazo's aura.

Nazo eyed Shadic, and chuckled. "Light Speed Attack? Again, really? My, my, you are really being original this time around, Shadic" he said.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" Pure Shadic shrugged, entire body vibrating with the power.

Nazo's own aura steadily grew darker, mixing into the air, yet not able to dim Shadic even further. "You asked me why I think things won't be the same?" he asked. "I'll tell you why." An evil smile dawned on the face of the demon. "You only won last time, because you had the help of your two little friends."

Shadic's eyes widened, not expecting that answer, that _attack_. "You… You're talking about Tails… And Knuckles…" he growled, Sonic's voice becoming more apparent in the fused being's tone.

Nazo lowered his hands slightly. "Now don't take it like that" he sighed. "I'm not like that tyrant Frieza, I only want you destroyed, never mind all of that agony. Haven't you figured out by now, I am a much more fair player than the types you have been consorting with?"

Shadic blinked, and shook off his Sonic's emotional half. "Let's cut the small talk" he shouted. "You act so pure, but you're just slightly more honorable than Frieza ever was. You trained him to make us suffer, in case you've forgotten. So, why are we chatting when we both know there's only one way to settle this?"

"Fair point" Nazo conceded. "Come on, Shadic, you have the first move."

"With pleasure!" Pure Shadic nodded, before he vanished into the inky darkness.

Reacting simply, Nazo turned to his side and thrust his fist forward, just as Shadic came back into existence. Their clash rippled throughout the space, before a blinding light, as bright as a supernova, lit up the entire solar system.

* * *

 **West City…**

* * *

"Goku, where are you going?"

"Kakarot, moronic may be a part of your genes, but now isn't the time to let it rule."

"I take personal offense to that, _Prince…_ "

" _Gaaahh…"_ SSB Goku gasped, collapsing to the ground, his hair fading to normal. "No, I… I won't, give up…"

Bulma sighed. "Just wait for a few moments, Goku. I just gave a call to your place, Goten and Trunks are going to grab Dende right now" she explained. "You're in no shape to do anything right now."

"I would listen to her, Kakarot" Vegeta grunted. "Frieza got us all, as much as it pains me to admit anything of that about the bastard, rest in hell."

"But… I can't… Wait…" Goku yelled over his pain, standing back up. "We can't let those two fight Nazo alone… Especially if he's capable of _that._ " The sky had just lit up a clashing black and white, literally, not a single speck of the normal sky had remained while the energy had existed.

"Wait, you've lost me" Bardock said to his son. "What is going on, I thought that the fight was over."

Vegeta glanced at him. "The fight with you trying to conquer the Earth, and Frieza pulling the strings, yes, that's over" he said. "But there's another being, that came from the same world as our friend. He's a bit of a threat, just as Frieza was, but has particularly gotten under the skin of the others, from their past encounters, and Kakarot had a very close scrape with it a while back."

"And I can't let them fight without any support" Goku grunted, a blue light flaring up around him once more. "This guy, something about him doesn't sit right with me, something just… I _really_ don't like him!"

Goku's hair briefly flew upwards again, and almost glowed blue, but before he could finish his transformation, he let out a roar of pain and fell onto all fours again.

Bulma sighed and looked to her husband. "Vegeta, you did that energy cuff thing to him before, right? Let's try to make it so that he doesn't kill himself."

Vegeta's face morphed into something unreadable. "Vegeta…?" Bulma asked.

"Sorry, decisions" Vegeta said lowly. "Either pin Kakarot down at my mercy, or let him send himself to Otherworld…"

"VEGETA!" Bulma shouted.

Vegeta jerked his head, aiming his hand at Goku, the Capsule Corp. building behind him. "We needed to remodel anyways" he growled, before several strands of yellow energy darted forward, wrapping around Goku's limbs and sending him crashing backwards into the wall, embedding in the stone and smacking Goku's head against it.

"Ow…" Goku muttered, his head hanging low. "Was the concussion necessary?"

"Quite" Vegeta smirked as Goku's eyes closed.

Bulma facepalmed. "Why…" she asked simply. "Just… Why?"

Bardock glanced at King Vegeta. "Does, he get that sense of violence from you?" he asked.

"I think he got most of that from Frieza" King Vegeta admitted.

Vegeta dropped his hand, breathing hard. He may not have been trying to transform into a Super Saiyan Blue, but his injuries made creating the energy cuffs a painful prospect either way. Glancing up at Bulma, he raised his eyebrows. "How long until the Namek boy gets here?" he asked.

Bulma shrugged. "With how fast Goten and Trunks can fly, I'd say you guys have at least a few minutes more to wait."

"Tch" Vegeta sighed, looking skyward. "Kakarot was worrying himself for nothing" he muttered. "I just watched that hedgehog pull the same stunt Trunks did when Frieza last came to Earth. If he can do that, that monster doesn't stand a chance."

Bulma blinked. "Vegeta, were you, complimenting them?" she asked.

"I am acknowledging their power" Vegeta clarified. "And if we're out of commision and the Earth is in danger, they are the next line of defense. Even I can see that. And they do their job well."

King Vegeta stepped forward. "I do not understand the situation, but perhaps I could be of assistance. I am the only unwounded one."

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Unless you can breath in space and fight even fiercer than Kakarot's father, no" he said. "Kakarot may have been trying to help, but there is only one way that he could hope to even fight up there, and I doubt he fully thought it through."

"Fully thought it through?" King Vegeta asked.

Hand retracting into his pocket, Vegeta tossed something tiny and glimmering in the light into the air, catching it in his palm. "Those hedgehogs are fighting beyond the atmosphere because they have the uncanny ability to fight in space. The only way we could survive is a special barrier technique, but there's only one way to use it, and I despise the means to that end."

Holding up the object, Vegeta's Tempotara dangled from his fingertips. Vegeta and Bardock took a look at it. "An… Earring?" Bardock asked.

"More complicated than that" Vegeta said, stuffing it back into his pocket. "If I wear one, and Kakarot wears the other, we fuse together, to become a single, more powerful warrior. I hate the Fusion, but it's a good trump card to keep." He pulled a face. "Not that I enjoy it."

"But if you can do that so easily, then why don't you fuse together now?" Bardock asked. "Weren't you the one saying how you'd commit patricide if it came to protecting your family and planet?"

"If me and Kakarot fused now, we'd be even weaker than he was when he fought with you" Vegeta said. "Our condition transfers into the new body, which means we'd be a useless body if we did right now, we'd only drain the power of the earrings." Shooting a glare over, he continued. "But this talk is useless, bottom line, we are helpless for now. All we can do is wait for the Namek boy to arrive and patch us up. Then, if things come to it, Fusion is a last resort to go and fight the demon with. So, if you two don't mind, shut up and sit tight!"

* * *

 **Space…**

* * *

Shadic darted through the void at speeds that would put terminal velocity to shame, and used him momentum to swing around and crash into Nazo, sending him sailing before chasing after him.

He found himself ahead of Nazo, and placed his hands forward, before unleashing a massive wave of energy. He smirked for a second, before realizing that a dark light was moving straight through the core of the blast, not slowing down. Stopping the attack, Shadic swiped his hand across his body, as an invisible blade of wind sliced through the vacuum, cleaving a large blast of purple energy clean in two, splitting around him and detonating behind him.

Shadic darted upwards, his upwards at least. The freedom that came from fighting outside of an atmosphere was as disorienting as it was free. A movement flashed out of the corner of his eye, and he saw Nazo charge straight at him, his dark aura making him nearly invisible in the black of space. Reacting fast, Shadic darted forward, a brilliant light shining around him as he unleashed a full power Boost, and met Nazo head on.

Time slowed to a near stop as the two separated, flying apart before dashing back at each other, clashing and looping around each other, trading blows multiple times. Shadic flipped and went straight at Nazo, foot swinging around, and at the last second, Nazo mirrored him. The two connected powerful kicks to the sides of each other's heads.

The energy around Shadic's hand distorted, and he sent a massive ripple of power straight at the demon. The vacuum muffled all sound, but the dull explosion of the Chaos enhanced Sonic Boom was unmistakable. Nazo floated still for a moment, brain scrambled by the intense impact. Aura flaring, Shadic teleported right about him, a glowing turquoise sphere with a yellow core sitting in his hands. "CHAOS WIND!" he shouted, unleashing the torrent of swirling explosive energy, blasting Nazo point-blank, sending him careening through the void, straight towards the large, pale body that was the moon.

Curling up into a ball, Shadic charged a power spin in the air and crashed straight into Nazo, and he didn't slow as the approached the white stone surface. With a massive burst of energy, Shadic's speed increased drastically, and he pushed Nazo hard, penetrating straight through the massive object, Nazo being the drill that dug right to the other side, right through the core of the moon.

Shadic slowed as he passed forward out of it, and Nazo slowed his soaring as quick as he could, covered in scratches across his hardened shell of a back. Around them, Chaos Control ended, and several tons of shrapnel raced past Shadic, flying out into deep space.

"Not so far ahead as you believed, huh?" Pure Shadic asked.

Nazo growled, looking up, breathing hard. "No… Perhaps not…" he admitted. "I misjudged just how weak you would be…"

"Not in excess" Pure Shadic shrugged. "Let's just say, I reversed your damage."

For emphasis, the light around Shadic flashed much brighter for a second, a knowing look dawning on Nazo's face. "Just as I discharged darkness, you are cloaking yourself in the light" he said.

"Much easier when I only have to make a little bubble rather than half a solar system" Pure Shadic laughed. "I warned you, things are going to be just like they were last time!"

"I wouldn't bet on it" Nazo said. "I may not win the battle, but this is war, my nemesis."

Shadic raised his eyebrows. "Hey, you aren't getting away!" he declared.

Nazo chuckled. "Really? Try and stop me!"

Shadic had barely made a movement before Nazo vanished in a flash of dark light. The strange pressure left the air, and that was what signaled him. The fight, Nazo, as quickly as it had began…

"It's over?" Pure Shadic asked. "Already?"

He let out a moan of frustration. "Is this becoming a pattern?" he asked out loud. "Someone gets away from a fight by the skin of their teeth?" He shrugged. "Well, I guess if that's the case, then next time will go better."

Letting out a sigh of relief, a mellow green light overtook the being, and Sonic and Shadow fell apart. Sonic's fur flickered dimly, he he chuckled. "Just… A little too long…" he muttered, groaning in pain. "Let's get back before I just, I don't know, vaporize?"

Shadow nodded. "This form isn't good for the long term" he conceded. He was having a slightly easier time because of the way his body was designed to handle it, but it was beginning to take its toll on him as well. "Let's hurry before we either fall out of our forms or our bodies" he said. "I don't want to die, and I don't want another several year case of amnesia."

"Yeah… Sounds good" Pure Sonic nodded.

Pushing forward, Sonic and Shadow send themselves towards the planet, then let zero-gravity and their momentum to carry them the rest of the way. Sonic let out a deep breath, and his fur faded to blue, the white glow leaking off of his body and soaring down towards to Earth, to where the Master Emerald awaited. "I'll go Super when we get closer" he said. "That way, I can avoid becoming a hedgehog pancake."

Following suit, Shadow reverted to a more easy to maintain form as well. "You know, Sonic?" he asked. "Whenever a fight involves you, on either side, things tend to go right up to the brink…"

"Just lucky that way, I guess" Sonic admitted.

The two felt a sudden tugging as they drew closer to the Earth. "Oh, here we go…" Sonic muttered as he rapidly began moving faster as gravity took ahold. "WhOoOoOoOoOoOoOoAaAaAaAaAa!" he shouted as he truly sped up to terminal velocity. He saw red, and he realized that he was becoming cocooned in a ball of fire as he careened towards the planet.

Curling up into a tight ball, Sonic spun to avoid the worst effects of the drop, and after several minutes of the fall, he noticed that the air began to grow warmer. At this point, he had to focus his energy, difficult when he was being tugged at with dizzying g-forces. Harnessing all his remaining power, the heat around him dispelled in a single push as his fur flared gold, and he entered Super Form.

The fall was no longer so damaging to his body, nor disorienting. A ripple of power told him Shadow had just 'pulled his own parachute.' The two, no longer free-falling, flew towards the surface below, yellow energy trailing behind them. They pulled up as they neared the treeline, avoiding the crash and skimming the canopy.

"Hmm" Super Sonic mused. "I don't recognize where we are…"

"Did you plan to?" Super Shadow asked. "We just fought at speeds faster than light, circling around the planet. We weren't just going to drop back into that city, or Knothole, or any of that, you know?"

"I know that!" he protested. "Doesn't mean that I couldn't have been hopeful though…"

Shadow sighed. "Fair enough."

The treeline ended, and suddenly, they found the ground much further below. They soared right over the top of a cliff, and Sonic desperately tried to come to a stop in the air. "Shadow, wait up!" he said, descending towards the ground below.

Rather than slow down his flight, Shadow used Chaos Control to cancel his momentum and reappear by Sonic. "What now?"

Sonic looked back and forth, over the terrain. "This place… I think I know it…" he trailed off as he looked into the distance. "Ah-HA!" he said, dashing over, and making his way back in the blink of an eye.

In his hand, he held a large, sharp piece of blue metal. "This was where Eggman ambushed me with all those cheap Metal Sonic knockoffs" he said. "I was here with Sally right before Frieza's invasion began." Looking up and around, he struck a thinking pose. "So, after I fought them, I flew Sally back to Knothole… And the direction I flew in was… This way!"

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Are you positive?" he asked. "I would hate to waste my time."

Sonic facepalmed. "First off, I was attacked by about two dozen clones of myself, before running off to a planetary fight that resulted in a bastard murdering my two best friends, I'd say I remember these details quite clearly" he said. "Also, did you forget about Chaos Control? Time is a non issue."

Shadow blinked, then chuckled. "You know that's not what Chaos Control does, but I'll give your props for being just a little creative with your comeback."

"Heh heh" Super Sonic shrugged, running his finger beneath his nose. "Come on, let's get back so that I can pass out for a few days."

"Sleep is for the weak" Super Shadow scoffed. "Which is why I can't understand my feeling the same way."

Sonic floated back into the air. "So… This way, right" he said, turning to the northeast.

Shadow twisted his body to face where Sonic was pointing. "Now that we're back on the planet, I can actually sense the Master Emerald's energy. It's like a beacon."

"So I've got your vote of confidence?" Super Sonic asked.

"Hmph, this time, sure" Super Shadow chuckled.

Sonic flipped backwards in the air, energy flaring beneath him. "Come on, race ya'!" he said, before taking off with a blindingly fast Super Sonic Boost.

"Oh, now that's just playing dirty..." Super Shadow muttered, before taking off after Sonic as fast as he could.

* * *

 **Capsule Corp…**

* * *

"And there you are, Vegeta."

"Hmmph, thanks, Dende" Vegeta huffed, nodding with gratitude, and standing up straight, stretching.

Stepping to the side, Dende donned a confused look as he saw Goku, chained to the wall. "Um, what happened here?"

"Well, you know how you put a leash on a dog to prevent it from running away?" Vegeta chuckled. "Apparently, the same works to keep Kakarot from going on a suicide run."

"Ahh…" Dende facepalmed, turning away from Vegeta and walking over to the building. "Ok, knowing Vegeta, I'd just better hope that I know how to help with concussions."

Holding his hands forward, his healing light began pouring forth again, washing over Goku's limp body. Slowly, the cuts and bruises visible through Gou's torn gi began to fade, and the holes that had been punched through his body by Frieza's Death Beams began to close. His eyes fluttered as Dende's light began to fade, and they shot wide open as he pulled back his hands.

"Wha-!" Goku exclaimed, a ripple of power flying outwards, the chains around his limbs completely vanishing. Luckily, Goku had maintained some control, disoriented as he was, so he didn't knock Dende flying, but he still had to struggle to remain standing. "Oh, my bad" he apologised. "Sorry, Dende."

"No problem" Dende shrugged. "You know me, I don't care if you guys use me like an infinite supply of Senzu Beans after what you did for my people."

"Yeah, I really appreciate it" Goku said gratefully.

But after exchanging their pleasantries, Goku's face darkened. Head shooting over, he began to speak to Vegeta. "Any news on those two?"

"Tch, I'm not your friend in Otherworld, I can't see everything at all times" Vegeta spat.

"Vegeta!" Goku growled. "All I was asking if you have seen anything, no need for the hostility. Those two saved us, and I'll be damned if they die trying to save the planet twice in a row."

Silver sighed. "I wish I could get back up there and help, but I couldn't even go Super right now without keeling over on the spot" he said begrudgingly. "I haven't completely mastered Chaos Control yet..."

"And we aren't about to ask you to, either" Goku said. "You helped just as much as they did."

He paused for a moment, before turning back to Vegeta. "Vegeta, we have to go help them out" he said. He pulled out his Tempotara with a serious look. "Come on."

Vegeta's scowl deepened. "Please, do you realize how many times we've fused already? Three times, not counting our test on Supreme Kai's planet. I want to take a break before the next time!"

"What?!" Goku shouted. "What do you mean a break?!"

"Oh, I don't know" Vegeta shrugged. "Maybe a lifetime?"

King Vegeta and Bardock watched the arguments between their sons with mild interest. "Do our families have, like a blood feud or something?" Bardock questioned.

"I am very much starting to believe that that is a possibility" King Vegeta nodded.

Goku stumbled on the spot, nearly dropping the earring. Giving a glare that would put any of Vegeta's angry faces to shame, he stowed the item back into his pocket. "Fine" he said. The ground shook, as the blue flames sprung up around Goku's body, and he jumped straight to Super Saiyan Blue. "Vegeta, you talk about your pride all the time, are you really going to let it get our friends killed?" he asked. "Even if you don't help, I'm heading up there!"

The entire Earth began tremoring once more, and crimson light shot skyward, as Goku's blue aura became intermixed with the deep red light of the Kaioken. "I'll just hold my breath" he said, coming off sounding dumber than he intended.

His legs tensed, as he prepared to take off into the air. The other five, Vegeta, his father, Bardock, Silver, and Bulma all looked on, surprised that he was actually going through with it. And just before he left the ground, his power already parting the clouds…

"Is something going on?"

Goku's head immediately twisted around, looking directly behind him. All the others looked the same direction, and just as they had heard…

"Geez, we don't get two minutes to rest around here, do we?" Super Sonic asked. "There's already something else happening, huh?"

Goku's Kaioken aura faded, and Super Saiyan Blue made its exit soon after. Goku's arm quickly twitched violently, but as he only had Kaioken active for a moment, and it hadn't been utilized, the aftershock was minor and brief. "Oh, thank goodness" he breathed.

Sonic glanced over to Shadow. "Do you have any idea what's going on here" he asked his rival.

Shadow studied the area for a minute, and turned back to Sonic. "I'm going to assume that your sending them off with a wave of your hand had them worried, and he was trying to make his way back."

Vegeta chuckled. "You hit the nail on the head with that one, Shadow" he said.

A small wave of energy flew outwards from Shadow as the Chaos energies in his body lowered, and he dropped to his normal state. "I'm smarter than I often have the chance to prove" he shrugged.

Sonic too reverted from his Super State. "Well, if that's the case, then I guess I'm sorry for that, guys" he apologised. "We had a quick situation to deal with, didn't need you guys in the way." Taking a deep breath, he continued. "It was Nazo. He was a bit of trouble, but we managed to send him packing."

Goku let out a sigh of relief. "You know, it was a bit of a scare when you just sent us away with your Chaos Control. You've never done that before."

"Yeah, well, I didn't feel like taking any chances at all today" Sonic said. "Me and Shadow fused again, and even then, things were a bit dicey here and there."

"Oh, really?" Vegeta asked. "You two always seem so quick to jump to Fusion for your answers."

Sonic smirked. "Yeah, well, we can't help it if we're smarter than your over-inflated pride and use what we have" he said.

Upon closer inspection, a vein could be seen throbbing in Vegeta's forehead. "You know, Sonic, even though you just got back, _I-!"_

Vegeta's yelling was suddenly cut short as Shadow stretched his hand forward. The air around his body distorted slightly, and he completely froze. "Ok, Sonic, he deserved that, he always does, but you new exactly how he would react" Shadow said.

Raising his leg, Sonic tapped the heel of his shoes, where the small golden orb embedded in it was glowing. "Don't worry, I was predicting his Big Bang Attack" he said.

"Light-Speed Dash, smart choice" Shadow conceded.

Sonic looked at Vegeta as Shadow held him there. "You know, I didn't expect your Chaos Powers to grow to this extent when that Kai guy unlocked your powers, but focused Chaos Control? Nice."

"Yeah…" Shadow said. "Although, I suppose I'll have to let him out."

King Vegeta was looking back and forth between the groups, shocked and confused. "Wait, what did you two do to my son?" he asked.

Shadow waved his free hand. "Relax, I just froze him in time for a moment. He doesn't even realize it."

King Vegeta appeared to double his shock and confusion factors on the spot. "You can, control time?" he asked.

"Time and space, at my fingertips, to an extent" Shadow said. "Speaking of my extent, this is draining me pretty fast. Want me to just move him before I unfreeze him?" he asked Sonic.

"Maybe just a hundred feet into the air. He sounded like things were gonna get intense" Sonic said.

"Done" Shadow said, snapping his fingers, and Vegeta disappearing.

Less than a second, and a massive yellow light filled the sky, searing the tops of their heads and prompting everyone to take cover. Goku glanced up, and saw a large stream of yellow energy fly forward, disappearing on the horizon.

Sonic looked up and saw it too. "Oh, Final Flash…" he muttered meekly. "Maybe I _will_ quit teasing him."

Shadow's eyes were wide. "Yeah, I would say, that is probably the best idea" he agreed.

Vegeta hovered back to the ground, breathing hard. "Clever rats…" he muttered.

"What can I say, survival instincts and all" Sonic said, Shadow nodding in support of what he said.

Vegeta closed his eyes and gave a small grin of respect. "Fair enough" he said, anger abated.

Goku turned around and looked at the two. "So, Sonic" he began. "What've you been up to? We didn't get a chance to catch up…"

Sonic shook his head. "I'm sorry, Goku, but not right now" he said. "I know, I need to be hauled in for questioning…" he said jokingly, but continued. "But I want to get everything done, all my apologies done at once, and I can't do it all right now…"

"Huh?" Goku asked. "What are you saying?"

Sonic sighed. "I'm sorry, but I'm tired right now, that was about twice as long as I used Pure Form before, and you can't just heal this kind of damage. I need to go rest, and tomorrow, I'll answer to everyone. You guys, Sally and my friends in Knothole, all of them."

"Oh, alright" Goku said, still slightly confused.

Shadow looked back over at Sonic. "Where are you going, then?" he asked. "If you're going to disappear for one more day, after all…"

"I think, I'm going somewhere I haven't gone since this whole thing happened" Sonic answered. "My place."

"You have a house, Sonic?" Bulma asked.

"Just a little place, edge of a forest, right next to the ocean" he replied. "It used to be right near a little… More of a community than anything. Things have just been too busy since things began to go back there, and I ended up finding myself somewhere else during the past month. So, I just figured, I might as well head back sometime."

"Oh, ok" Bulma said. "If you want, I can lend you one of my planes to get you there."

Sonic shook his head again. "Nah, I'm much faster on my feet" he chuckled. "I'll be back tomorrow, guys, don't worry, I'm not disappearing again."

"If you say so…" Shadow muttered. "Just know this, Sonic. I don't appreciate being lied to, and if need be, I can be quite the efficient assassin."

"I'll keep that in mind" Sonic chuckled. Looking across the group, he gave a wave to them all. "Cya guys later."

And in a split second, only a cloud of dust was left where Sonic had just been standing, and a massive sonic boom that pierced their eardrums.

Bardock stumbled, ears throbbing. "Wow… That guy is fast…" he said, pointing out the obvious. "I didn't even get a chance to greet him, who is he exactly?"

Shadow turned to the Saiyan warrior. "Who are _you_ exactly?" he asked. "Because as far as my knowledge extends, you and your Saiyan buddies were coming here to take us over."

Bardock shook his head. "I only agreed to go on this mission for the purpose of coming to Earth to find my son" he said.

"I'm still having trouble understanding all of this" Goku said, rubbing his head. "Like, I know how Frieza revived you all to try and take us over, which kind of backfired on him in the end, but how did you even know that I was here, or how did you get to become a Super Saiyan if I was supposed to have been the first one in thousands of years."

"Well, you aren't technically wrong about being the first in thousands of years" Bardock chuckled. "I don't understand all of my own story either, but when Frieza made his final attack on our home planet, instead of being blasted to Kingdom Come, I was sent into the far past. I lived a short life their, and ended up fighting one of Frieza's ancestors. That fight unlocked my Super Saiyan power. I fell in another battle further down the line, someone who easily defeated me in a battle, while toying with me."

"Huh, strange" King Vegeta asked. "As far as I'm aware, Frieza was the most powerful being to ever have existed in our universe by the time he destroyed us. How could someone be that powerful in the past?"

"I don't know, but they were" Bardock answered. "But, anyways, when I was killed in that battle, I seemed to briefly blackout, before reappearing above the reformed Planet Vegeta." He paused, and then looked to his son. "I suppose that you would be able to elaborate on how that happened?"

Goku nodded. "In our world, we have something known as the Dragon Balls" he said. "There are 7 of them, and when they are gathered, they can summon a Dragon called Shenron, which can grant most any wish you ask. I guess the way Frieza worded it, it was sort of a loophole that let you be brought back as well, probably something like "revive all the Saiyans that were on Planet Vegeta the day it was destroyed." Even though you were in the past, since you were technically on the planet when it got destroyed, it brought you back to life and back to the present."

"True wish granting, astounding…" Bardock said. "And when I got back, there was a mission for Saiyans to be sent here to come to Earth. You, you had been sent here when you were just a baby to destroy it, and when it still existed, the mission was reopened. I volunteered to come here, hoping that you were still here. I knew you had at least survived to adulthood, that much I was positive of."

"What?" Goku asked. "How?"

"A curse, from the people of Planet Kanassa" Bardock said. "We destroyed their people, while under a mission from Frieza. People who lived there were said to gain prophetic abilities, but as a curse, they granted the power to me, so that I could see the destruction of my own race at the hands of Frieza. But, whether they meant it to or not, I also saw the destruction of Frieza. I saw you, facing off against him on the Planet Namek, and I also saw you become the first Super Saiyan in the millenia. It's true, you were the first in thousands of years, but only because I unlocked the power thousands of years ago."

"..."

After finishing his story, the two fell quiet, Goku letting it sink in, and the others absorbing it too, being quite a complicated tale to tell. After what seemed like an eternity, Goku suddenly gasped. "Oh crap!" he exclaimed. "My friends!"

Vegeta's eyes widened slightly when he said this too. "Great galaxies, Kakarot, how did you forget about them?" he exclaimed. "Frieza told us several of them had been taken out, and my father never got the order out!"

"Actually, my son" King Vegeta said. "I believe that they stopped when I told them to. After all, I wouldn't have had reason to contact them besides to call them off."

"But that doesn't change that most of my friends and family are lying around the world on the brink of death right now" Goku said. "We need to go find them!"

His hair flared blue once more, but this time, Shadow stepped up. "Let's be smart about this, Goku" he said. "Don't just fly off, use me."

"Use you?" SSB Goku asked.

Shadow nodded. "I can use Chaos Control to transport you, me, and Dende here around. I handle transporting us, Dende and handle the healing, and you try _damn_ hard to sense their life force if we get near one of them."

Goku seemed to relax slightly, his aura fading slightly, but his blue hair remaining. "Yeah, good idea, Shadow" he said. "But I still have problems sensing energies unless I'm right on top of them or they're powers are high. There's no way around it."

"So, I could always space my teleports closer together" Shadow said.

"I have a better idea" Bardock said, stepping forward. "I don't pretend to know everything that you guys are talking about, but if you need to be able to detect your friends…" he reached up, and pulled his scouter off of his head. "This is capable of detecting any life force, short of divine beings." He raised his eyebrows. "You and the prince are the only Gods of this world, right?"

"Hee hee, we aren't Gods" SSB Goku said. "We just have God energies."

"Well, either way" Bardock said, tossing the scouter over. "You can use that to help find them."

Goku fumbled to catch it, but managed to hold onto it. "A scouter?" he asked. "Hey, that's actually perfect!" He raised it up, and tried to put it on his head. It took a few tried, but eventually, he got it secured around his ear. "So, uh, how do I use this?"

"You don't know how to use a scouter?" King Vegeta asked.

"I didn't exactly grow up _as_ a Saiyan" Goku pointed out. "When I first got here, I was dropped on my head and forgot everything before I came to Earth… I didn't even know Saiyans were a thing until… My brother came here."

"Raditz?" Bardock asked. "He's here too?"

Goku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Not, anymore" he said. "He was trying to destroy the planet, so, me and one of my friends, we kinda, had to…"

"Kill him" Vegeta finished after a long pause from Goku. "He and his Namek friend Piccolo put Raditz down." When Bardock opened his mouth to respond, Vegeta cut him off. "Look, it wasn't like they had a choice. Kakarot was aiming to send him packing, Raditz didn't care about familial attachments, seeing as he had been aiming for the kill from the start."

Bardock sighed. "I never got to know Raditz either, he was only a child when everything went off. Still, he wasn't one to let anything get between him and what he wanted. I'm sorry to hear that, but he must have deserved what he got if it was taken that far."

Goku shrugged and fell silent for a moment, before continuing what they had been conversing about before they got off topic. "So, how do I use the scouter?"

"Press the button on the side, that brings up a display of any readable power levels in a large radius" Bardock began. "I assume that even wounded, your friends should have a higher power level than the normal humans of this world. Seek out the stronger signals by following where the reticle on the scouter points. The numbers on the left of the reticle is the approximate power level of the being, while the numbers listed along the left-most side of the screen is the number of kilometers to the position of the main target."

"Uh…" Goku scratched his head, before just deciding to go with it. "Alright, then" he said.

Reaching up, he felt around and pressed down the button on the side of the device, and lights began to flash across the tiny piece of glass that covered his right eye. A shrill beeping rang out from the scouter, and Goku turned to his left. "I think I found one of them" he said to Shadow. "Um, 9 kilometers, am I saying that right? Well, that way."

Shadow glanced at the direction Goku pointed in, and nodded curtly. "Very well" he said, raising his hand in the air.

Goku glanced back at everyone. "We'll be back as soon as we've helped everyone" he said, barely before Shadow gave his shout of "CHAOS CONTROL!" and the three of them disappeared in a flash of green light.

King Vegeta stared at the spot where the three had sat a moment before. "The dark one is able to truly teleport… Astounding…"

"Shadow is quite powerful, similar to myself" Vegeta shrugged. "He and some of his allies came here from another world, where they have special abilities to make up for their lack of power. Since coming here, however, they managed to find a way to attain both."

"Oh really?" King Vegeta asked. "Quite an intriguing circumstance."

"Quite" Vegeta agreed. "But like anything, it lost its luster after a time, and is now just a part of life."

There seemed to be no good way to continue the conversation past this point, as the three Saiyans fell silent. The light breeze wafted across the lawn, rustling the grass, and Bardock looked up. "This planet sure is much more hospitable than Planet Vegeta" he noted. "It almost seems to have been created for a more comfortable environment."

"Yes, this planet does seem much less treacherous than our homeworld" Vegeta nodded. "The gravity here is even a mere tenth of the gravity there." He smirked. "Of course, I have my own fix for that."

"And someday, that _fix_ is going to liquify your bones" Bulma muttered. "500 times gravity as a warmup… Geez…"

"Five hundred times one-tenth of our planet?" King Vegeta asked, impressed. "That's 50 times what we had back home."

"That's just my base form workout" Vegeta sighed.

Bulma turned around, opening the door. "Well, if you guys are going to sit around with your masochist chatting, we might as well head inside where we can sit. And maybe we can finally get some proper introductions out of you two."

King Vegeta glanced over towards Bulma. "You are inviting us into your home?" he asked.

"Yes, that should be obvious" Vegeta mocked his father. "I assume that you'll accept?"

"Well, I would be the fool to ignore an invitation from my son's wife" King Vegeta nodded. Turning to the side, he glanced at the other Saiyan. "Bardock, care to join us?" he asked.

Bardock looked around, and shrugged. "Kakarot won't be back for a while" he said. "And our ship was destroyed in the battle. I wouldn't say that there is anywhere else that I could wait." He looked over. "If your invitation extends to me, then I'll come as well."

Vegeta closed his eyes, and chuckled. "Pretty polite, contradictory of what you showed on the battlefield earlier" he said. "Fine, come on in, maybe you could make my day even more interesting than it already has been. After all, you're pretty good… For a _low class soldier_."

He said the last part sarcastically, and Bardock chuckled. "Even us low-levels can be stronger than your so-called 'elites'" he said. "My team was the top Saiyan task force back in the day."

King Vegeta nodded at his son, validating what Bardock had said. Vegeta raised his eyebrows. "Impressive" he said simply, before turning around, and waving the two after him as he and Bulma walked back inside their house.

A few moments passed, and Bardock turned to the king. "Even when conversing, your son maintains an oppressive aura" he noted. "Especially after the God forms faded, I felt quite scrutinized."

"He's kept a strong sense of Saiyan pride, even after all this time" King Vegeta laughed. "It's quite nice to view him sticking so close to his roots, going through all he's gone through." He took the first step forward, looking back to Bardock. "Come, let's join him. I'm sure that your son will be back soon, and perhaps your grandson from the sound of it."

"Oh, Saiyans may be youthful, but hearing that makes me feel old" Bardock sighed. "A grandfather, sheesh."

King Vegeta laughed again. "I may be too, by this point" he noted. "That's one of the things that I'll have to see about when we get in there."

Bardock reached up and grabbed his head, before jerking it to the side, popping his neck fiercely. "Oh, alright, I guess I can be a part of your reunion for now."

"I would expect nothing more from you" King Vegeta said. "My top warrior, family events must not be your thing."

"Never much of a family man" Bardock admitted, taking a step towards the door with the king. "But, I'm learning to get into these things."

No further words were exchanged before the two Saiyans entered the dome-shaped building before them, heading inside to where Vegeta and Bulma waited for them. The Saiyan race was no longer scraping by as it had been before, numbers dwindling. There was now a whole planet full of them, in deep space.

The trio of Goku, Shadow, and Dende quickly raced across the world, finding their friends as fast as they possibly could. Some of them were in dicey conditions, but it was nothing that Dende wasn't able to handle. The toughest was Krillin, who was buried under many feet of cracked stone, but soon, all of them were back on their feet.

Silver had made the jump back to his place in Knothole during the midst of the conversation, having had no part in the event that was taking place. He didn't mention Sonic, trusting that the other hedgehog would make his return as promised the following day. He kept a Super Emerald on him, hoping to do some practice with manipulating Chaos forces while he waited. Of course, he couldn't do much at the moment, his body was still reeling from the massive amount he had absorbed earlier in order to fight in Pure Form.

Sonic had arrived at his home in less than two minutes, quite a feat considering its distance across the planet. The familiar territory was soothing to him, and he was a little surprised that he hadn't been back since the very first day he had arrived in that world. He felt a little alone, now, the old scene reminding him of old times. He knew that Tails and Knuckles weren't as far gone as he'd believed, but at this point, there were several faces that he was sure he would never see again. His house was once part of a bigger community, and now that's all that remained. But, he did his best to avoid dwelling on the negative emotions, as he had a long day the following day. He wasn't quite sure how the others would react, but he knew that Sally, at least, would probably chew him out big time. "Bummer majores" he whispered jokingly, remembering his signature phrase from his younger days. But now was not the time to subject himself to that torturous line of thinking, it was time to give his body some "rest majores."

Everyone was accounted for. No one had been lost in that battle, thankfully. However, there was one who had battled, who was anything but joyful and relieved…

* * *

 **Neo-Eggmanland…**

* * *

"Those two… Damn them!" Nazo swore as he dropped to the ground.

His body had always been able to recover at an excellent rate, but the injuries that he had sustained in his fight with whatever deity had replaced the old Shadic, they were beyond what he could easily mend.

"I… Underestimated the power of the Master Emerald…" he muttered. "Again! I thought split, its infinite powers would be less potent. I see now that I was incorrect. They completely overrode my field of darkness with that positive energy."

Standing up, he sighed. "Those two are much more powerful than I gave them credit for as well" he said. "Sonic could have probably fought me on equal footing had I not been able to transform the Dark Emeralds into their Super varieties. I thought that training myself through that tyrant would allow me to surpass all of them, but I was wrong."

He felt a sickening swoop of anger in his gut, hot and cold at the same time. He felt like blasting the surrounding area to smithereens, but he held restraint. For one, on the very surface of the world, he would probably be caught in the destruction of the planet that he would bring, and then he wouldn't be able to see the two, defeated before him. He would also more than likely perish in the resulting explosion. Similarly, he did owe a debt to the Doctor for reviving him, even if it was unintentional.

However, lately, the Doctor seemed preoccupied with his creation. He still hadn't given up on his robots, and spent sleepless days and nights working on the coding, enhancing, and reconstructing of his creation, Dark Metal Sonic. The bot he had planned to have ready many months ago proved itself to be useless as the hedgehogs improved by leaps and bounds, and rather than be able to send it on a mission, it needed to be improved to the limits of technology, which the Doctor from this world, Gero, seemed to be helping with.

"When will they learn simple robotics will fail to defeat them now?" Nazo muttered. "Their allies like myself, and perhaps some of the others, are their only hope to remove the obstacles."

A crackling ball of black energy filled his hand, which he crushed in his grasp. "But at this point, even I fail to surpass them. There is only one possible course of action to take at this point…"

"With Frieza gone, I no longer have to remain at his level while training" he swore. "My limits are unbound, I am only as weak as I allow myself to be."

His gaze hardened, and he looked skyward. "You may not hear me, Sonic, Shadow, but know this. Eventually, even if it takes my life, I will surpass your fusion at its strongest state, and will crush with my bare hands! And you can be sure, that it will not take my life to get to that point. Your day of reckoning will come sooner than you believe!"

* * *

 **…**

 **…**

 **Not gonna lie, this didn't feel like one of my stronger chapters. Originally, I didn't plan to end the arc with a Nazo fight, but he hasn't shown his strength recently, for such a powerful character. The fight was short, but I feel confident that however brief it ended up being, it was at least written well.**

 **I feel some of my drive behind the story is dying away, just a bit. No abandonment, it's… A little difficult to explain, let me try. I never quite had the story fully mapped out. I had several ideas that I wanted to use, and decided to put them on a timeline to write the story along. The way this worked out, most of the ideas I'm most excited to write, come into play much further down the line (a la the Tournament coming up soon, been waiting on that one for a long time). You might think this is just motivation to push through this stuff, but in reality, it just makes it quite a bit more dull to write when you compare it to the ideas you have waiting ahead. Also, for those of you who have never written fight scenes, geez, they take a lot out of you. You have to come up with battle banter, choreography, clashes, and more, and it takes quite a bit of time, and when you come up, oh boy, it wasn't nearly as much as it felt like. Something like you've been writing for half an hour to get two minutes of a read.**

 **But, I'm going to stop my complaining, because no one wants to listen to that on CHRISTMAS (or whatever holiday you are currently celebrating, I mean no offense). I will say, I had this chapter done about 4 days in advance (typing this part just past midnight on the 22nd, so basically the 21st). I held off, because I wanted this to be sort of a Christmas present to you all. Maybe you like the idea, maybe you want to chew me out because it's an extra 4 days of a wait. Sorry, it's just something I've wanted to do.**

 **Anyways, to the story. Since I'm trying to make this almost like an anime in word form, yes, we have a few filler chapters coming up. I haven't worked out all the details yet, but I didn't mention Eggman still working on Dark Metal Sonic for nothing. I bet you all thought I forgot completely about that idea? Nope, just setting the stage early on. I'm not as good with the slice of life… In** _ **this**_ **story, I find. I have no idea why, but it seems more difficult here. Still, I hope you enjoyed the interactions between the Saiyans. Silver was kinda out of place here, as he didn't have a big role, but he's not completely useless yet. I'm making sure he keeps up.**

 **News about the tournament, I've decided on the 7 fighters of each team. If you don't want to be spoiled, skip the next couple of paragraphs:**

 **Universe 7: Goku, Vegeta, Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Gohan, Bardock. In the actual tournament, let's be honest, Goku and Vegeta were the only ones who did anything. This time, matches are going to be much closer, I'm changing up the tournament quite a bit so that everyone gets a chance to shine.**

 **Universe 6: Hit, Botamo, Frost, Mageta, Cabbe, Unnamed Majin, Unnamed Demon (Dabura equivalent, credit to jalen johnson for the idea, thank you, I was having trouble coming up with something to fill the spot). The original five, as well as a Majin, Pure Majin, yet more sentient than Kid Buu was, so he can avoid deaths. The demon, I still need to design, create, but I really liked the idea, so once again, shoutout to jalen johnson.**

 **A few more chapters, which I know, seems like an eternity at this rate. Hopefully my next quarter at college will be easier, but just my home life took a lot of time away from my writing (part stress, part family visiting, part responsibilities, and part playing games in my free time). Hopefully the few chapters will be good, I'll try my best.**

 **And, that's all I really have to say for now. So, for now, Merry Christmas, and until next time, cya! This is Sonic the Saiyan, signing out.**


	38. Small Detour

"Come on, Daddy, hurry up!"

"I'm coming, Goten, don't worry" Goku called back. "Just give me a minute."

After he, Shadow, and Dende had gone and collected everyone that had taken a fall during the fight, they had dropped the Saiyans off at the Capsule Corp. main building, where Vegeta had taken charge of making sure they didn't cause any more trouble. Meanwhile, everyone had flown back off to their respective homes, with the exception of Gohan and Videl, and of course, Pan coming home alongside Goku. Strangely enough, it was Goku who requested Gohan spend some time at his old home with them, and of course, the invitation extended to Videl and their daughter. When he got some curious looks about it, he wasn't afraid to explain.

" _Frieza got under my skin a little bit when he told me how you were taken down out there, Gohan" Goku had said. "And after we've already lost someone, I kinda just want to keep my family close. Just spend the night up in Mt. Paozu?"_

The uncharacteristic display of overprotectiveness was enough that Gohan didn't bother arguing. Having an extra capsule house from Bulma, they slept right next door to his old place. And Gohan had to admit, for all the luxuries city life had, it was nice to be back in the quiet mountains he had spent so much time in as a Saiyan tyke.

There was another reason Goku wanted his eldest son there, however. He figured he'd tell his family first, not knowing exactly how he would handle it just yet, being so awkward for him. Safe to say, it was quite a shock to them all when he basically said, "Hey, my dad's back from the dead and came here to take over our planet with Super Saiyan God power, but he seems to be cool now, so don't worry."

They knew that the Saiyans had still been on the planet. Of course, their ship was destroyed, they were marooned on Earth. Heck, they even knew King Vegeta was here, King Kai had told them all himself that the King had been aboard the vessel. However, they hadn't counted on Goku's father being part of the trip too.

When they asked him how he was, he shrugged. After all, he had only had about 5 minutes of time actually knowing who the other one was before he had left. "He looked a lot like me, except a bit more… Saiyan?" That was really the only way to describe him. More harshly etched features, as well as a star-shaped scar on the right side of his face, was all that really distinguished him from his son. Oh, and the fact that he still had his tail, but at this point, that was more or less irrelevant.

It was late in the night, so there wasn't much they could do right then. Goku also let them know that Sonic was back, and seemed to be fine now. That was met with great relief, none of them had seen Sonic ever since Frieza's attack, and were glad to hear that he was ok, and would probably be back in the group tomorrow. For how good of news that was, however, it failed to erase the shock of the extra member to the family that now stood on the planet.

And Chi-Chi, with a sense of traditionality going for her, of course, demanded that Goku take them to meet him the following morning.

Which was why Goten was rushing his father. Goku had slept in, and for reasons he couldn't fathom, had trouble even slipping his clothes on. He wanted to wear his normal orange Gi, but his wife wouldn't hear of it, even if it would probably have been fine by his Saiyan father. And, as it turns out, short of his work clothes, which were also shot down, and his Gi, he didn't have much that fit him anymore. He had dug through half the closet Chi-Chi kept for him, almost going Super Saiyan in frustration as, for the umpteenth time, he couldn't even slip his head through the neck hole.

Eventually, he found a shirt that managed to fit him without tearing apart the second he slouched even the slightest. It was plain black, and pretty boring, so Goku found something to slip on over it in the form of the jacket he had been wearing in that week before the Cell Games. Luckily, it managed to fit rather well too, and he remembered, he and Chi-Chi had bought that jacket for while he was a Super Saiyan. Even after all this time, as long as he didn't transform in it, he should be fine.

He managed to jump downstairs just as Goten was ready to come up and check on him. Goten and Chi-Chi were, of course, both ready, and from the sound of it, Gohan, Videl, and Pan would be over in just a minute to be ready to take off.

"Thank goodness, Daddy, you were taking forever" Goten complained.

"Heh heh, sorry, Squirt" Goku chuckled. "Daddy had trouble finding something to wear."

"Well, at least you managed to find a decent outfit" Chi-Chi nodded, of course, dressed to the point where she couldn't be informal in a royal court. "So, are we going to get flying, or what?"

Goku scratched his head. "But, Chi-Chi, you always said you prefer to take the car than to fly" he said, confused. Normally, the method of transport for the family would, of course, be Instant Transmission. However, for obvious reasons…

Chi-Chi nodded. "Yes, it's always nice to travel sometimes in a normal way, but, what's the point of having these powers if you don't use them?" That was a poor use of words, considering Goku had used _much_ more than his flight the previous day, in a fight that would probably rank somewhere close to his fight with Beerus in terms of sheer intensity. "Besides, it's much quicker to fly, and we'll be able to meet him sooner this way." Ah, there's the main reason.

Goku groaned. For all the fights he's been in, the Gods that he's clashed with, and travel to other worlds and even dimensions, why was it so difficult to go meet a blood relative with the family. Most challenges get him pumped up, so why was he so nervous?

" _Because you've never known your father, and suddenly, he shows up, maybe?"_ a little voice in his head told him. " _Come on, even Vegeta was putting up a wall with his father. This would be awkward for anyone."_

"Yeah, I guess…" Goku muttered to himself. Having a challenge that couldn't be defeated… Yeesh, it didn't feel very good. No push to surpass limits, just dealing with awkwardness.

Chi-Chi opened the door, ushering the two Saiyans outside before closing the door behind her. A little ways to their side, Gohan and Videl were just emerging from their house that had been set up right next door. Gohan flipped a latch next to their main doorway, but Chi-Chi waved her hands. "You know, why don't we keep that here?" she asked. "It looks nice there, and that way, you guys have a guest house if you ever want to get away into the mountains."

Gohan's eyes brightened slightly. "Hey, that's a good idea, Mom" he said. A look at Videl, and he could tell that they both felt the same way. Closing the latch, the two of them walked over to the three others, Pan asleep in Videl's arms. "Well, are we all set?"

Unanimous, they were. Chi-Chi braced herself around Goku's neck, and with a simple motion, the entire group were soaring through the air at high speeds, off in the direction of West City and Capsule Corp.

* * *

 **Sonic's House…**

* * *

Here he was, back in his old surroundings again.

Sonic had just awoken from a deep sleep, courtesy of his massive clash with that demon, Nazo. He wasn't sure he had ever been so tired before, of course, he felt that way after every battle. He honestly wasn't used to fighting like a martial artist, even after all this time. It wasn't his style, yet in this world he and his friends were dropped into, just ramming into his enemies repeatedly didn't cut it anymore.

Letting out a deep breath, he stood up and wandered around, drinking in his house. Ever since that Chaos Control went wrong, he had missed a lot from his world. Besides his little place near the ocean, and his friends who had come with him, there wasn't exactly much that came over with them. The Blue Typhoon, Soleana, and from the sound of it, Goku had woken up in the Green Hill when things had first gone down.

Sonic chuckled. "Boy, the Green Hill, that brings back memories."

It was kind of an unspoken rule that whenever Eggman had started one of his crazy schemes, daring Sonic to come at him, they would start at the Green Hill or one of the surrounding areas, like Angel Island, or the Splash Hills. He'd fought quite a bit there, but it had also been one of his favorite places to relax in his down time.

He stretched his body. He knew that he couldn't stay in this familiar place long. After all, the longer he stayed, the harder it would be to leave. For what had come over, he missed everything that hadn't. Tails and Knuckles, his two best friends, he wouldn't trade them for anything, but boy did he miss Amy, and Cream, heck, even the Chaotix. As weird as they were, they knew how to have some fun.

On some level, he was glad that they hadn't made the trip with them. For how fiery Amy was, or for how loyal Rouge and Omega were to Shadow, none of them would have adapted well to this world of God-level fighters and universal apocalypses looming over them every Tuesday. Ok, maybe that was an exaggeration, but the point stood.

But then, a look at Sally told him that they didn't necessarily need to be a fighter on their level to survive. Sally wasn't much stronger herself than most of the humans of this world, and a fair sight weaker than Goku's friends, like Krillin and Yamcha. However, she had proved her worth. Heck, she almost stopped him from making a decision he was sure he would have regretted.

That day still haunted him. Whether it was when he first transformed in a rage against the Metarex when they had captured Chris and… Cosmo, or when Nazo had attacked Tails, he had never quit so lost control as he did when Frieza stepped up to the plate. Normally, he can keep some semblance of self control when under the influence of the darkness, but even that had been gone. It was as if someone was whispering in his ear, compelling him to keep at the cruel punishment, the destruction of the lizard man, he was not at all in control…

He tried to shake off the dark feeling, but it managed to cling to him slightly, like a mist in his fur. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and steadied his life force. Goku may have only taught him the basics of Ki, but he knew enough to stop the swirling energy inside of him from being so aggravated, and calm himself.

He took a deep breath, air travelling into his lungs, when a sharp _thwack_ sounded just outside his door, causing him to nearly choke on his own air. After he had managed to catch his breath without dying, he gave his heart a moment to stop pounding, before looking at the door.

The only ones who should have known where his house was would be Tails, Knuckles, and Goku. It couldn't be the first two, for obvious reasons, and Goku, well, he wouldn't have just made a single knock and stayed waiting out there.

"Another thing about living in this world…" he thought. "I've never felt so paranoid. Maybe they managed to track me down, worrying about me running again." He felt slightly ticked at the idea that they wouldn't trust him like that, but then again, he hadn't really given them a chance to.

" _Or maybe there is something to worry about"_ his inner voice told him.

"Can it" he muttered to himself, casting his doubts aside and walking to the door. Taking a look outside the peephole, he saw no one there. His unease grew, but he opened the door anyways, to find…

"Nothing?" Sonic asked. He could have sworn he heard someone making a noise out here, but there was no one to be found. He looked up, down, left, right, still no one. And just as he was about to walk back inside, he noticed something.

"What in the…" Sonic asked, looking at the door itself. Embedded higher in it, above his head, there was a single metal stake. It was about 3 inches long, but that wasn't the strange part. The strange part, was the piece of paper that was trapped beneath it. Some alarms went off in his head at the sight of the piece of metal keeping it there, but he couldn't interpret them at the moment, instead opting to reach up, unfasten the stake, and pull the paper down.

As expected, there was writing on it. Looking around with a frown, he stepped back inside, closing the door, before sitting down and looking at the paper. His frown grew deeper as he read.

 _ **It has been a long time, hasn't it, Sonic? I've been looking for you for a while now, but you know how to remain invisible when you want to, it seems. No matter, I have finally located you, and this time, you will not escape my vision.**_

Sonic had an inkling of an idea, but he kept reading.

 _ **It is high time for our rematch, Sonic. I have not wasted my time since our last battle, and you promised to answer when I came back for more. I am well aware of what has happened since last time, so make no mistake. You will not notify those fighters you have grown close to, they would only interfere in our battle. As for our battlegrounds, I have decided on the ruins of Prison Island. I trust that the wide open space will be to your liking.**_

"Prison Island found its way here too?" Sonic asked.

 _ **And to compensate for your poor directional skills, I have given you the precise direction to the island. It will involve water travel, which your Super State is well equipped to handle.**_

"He knows I can go Super at will now…" he muttered.

 _ **If you do not show, you know better than anyone that I have ways to make you regret running away as opposed to attending your defeat at my hands. I expect you in no less than one hour.**_

 _ **\- M**_

With a sort of grim look on his face, Sonic looked at that single letter that made up the signature, now confirming exactly who he thought the note had belonged to.

M

Sonic actually chuckled. "Aw man, he made it here too? Well, I guess I did promise a rematch, someday, and he's cashing it in."

He knew that he had told the others that he would make it back there today, but there wasn't much of a choice. His challenger made it very clear that if he didn't come, he would regret it, and he couldn't let anyone else know. Besides, it wouldn't take that long.

All doubts gone, he stepped out the front door. The chill in the air all but disappeared as his fur flashed gold, and his eyes darkened to red. Ascending to his comfortable Super Form, he launched into the air.

"Prison Island, eh?" Super Sonic asked. "Oh well, sure thing. I'd hate to keep him waiting, after all."

A ripple of energy passed through the air, as Sonic flipped back into the air, before boosting forward, instantly breaking the sound barrier and always accelerating towards his destination. "This'll be over in a flash" Super Sonic smirked. "He won't know what hit him."

* * *

 **Capsule Corp…**

* * *

"Pick up the pace you two, this is barely anything!" Vegeta barked.

He and two other Saiyans, Bardock and King Vegeta, all stood in a metal room, the entire place bathed in a dark red light. Across from him, the other two Saiyans, the King of them all, and the only one of the last generation to dare stand up to Frieza, nearly fell over from the effects of the increased gravity in the Gravity Chamber.

"Are you seriously struggling at a mere 100x gravity?" Vegeta asked. "That's only 10x our homeworld. I barely feel it!"

"To be fair, Vegeta…" Bulma's voice came through the speaker, "You have been training in it every day for going on a decade now, with the strength of a God, while these two have been dead until recently."

"That's no excuse" Vegeta shot back. "Even Kakarot is a better example of a Saiyan warrior than these two right now!"

Bardock glared at Vegeta. " _Even_ Kakarot?" he snarled under his breath. "Fine, I'll show him just what I can do."

The current frustration he felt expanded, filling his entire body, and with a roar, his hair flared upwards, glowing yellow, as an aura of the same color took place around him. The force of the transformation nearly floored the King next to him, who didn't have access to the transformation himself.

Staring Vegeta down with turquoise eyes, he smirked. "You're _right,_ Prince" he said nonchalantly. "This _is_ easy."

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Congratulations" Vegeta sighed. "As a Super Saiyan, you are able to move around as easily as my twelve-year old son in here."

The two Saiyans had met Trunks the previous night, and the thought of being compared, as a Super Saiyan, to the little kid, made Bardock frown some more. "Fine, then turn it up to your normal workout."

Vegeta chuckled. "Oh really?" he asked. "Should we start with the warm up at 750x gravity, or jump straight to 1000x?"

For once, Vegeta had managed to stop both his and Kakarot's fathers in place. The two thought that he must be lying, or bluffing at least, but he was unwavering. King Vegeta looked at his son with a sense of pride and awe. "You aren't joking" he noted.

"He practically lives in here, what did you expect?" Bulma's voice came through again. "Anyways, you guys can try more of the masochist act later. Come on out, Trunks just told me he felt Goku and the others on their way over. If you want to keep training while you wait, come give Shadow a hand. He's been practicing on the lawn all morning."

Bardock and the elder Vegeta had gotten the rundown of Vegeta's life since Planet Vegeta went up in the Supernova, including some info on Shadow and the others. And from the sound of it, fighting Shadow would be almost as bad as a battle with Vegeta himself. Shadow was powerful, and didn't hold back very much. Not to mention, Vegeta had assisted in him gaining power recently. As much as their Saiyan pride wanted that battle, they didn't want it at the cost of their limbs, not to mention, they would lose as much pride as they had if the tiny rodent creamed them.

The three pure-blooded Saiyans exited the Gravity Chamber. In fact, they were the only pure Saiyans, besides Goku, left on the planet. Bulma may have let the Namekians stay for a while, but she wasn't a fan of the other Saiyans that had come. With one of the spare spaceships she had lying in her capsule stock, she sent all of them packing that very night, Bardock and King Vegeta only staying behind for the moment so that they could meet their sons once more.

The five of them, Bulma and Trunks joining them, emerged from the building, and stepped out into the crisp air on the lawn. Shadow was hovering in the air, having entered his Super Form, and appeared to be practicing power attacks, as his energy would suddenly flare high, before he delivered a single blow in the air. Silver sat on the ground, appearing to be meditating. Since his powers were more mental than physical, it made sense that this was his style of training.

As they stepped outside, Bardock let his own power drop, not quite realizing that he had still been a Super Saiyan. He looked up, and into the sky. "You said Kakarot's coming?" he asked the little boy.

Trunks nodded. "Yeah" he said. "Usually, I have a problem sensing him, but Goten's family is all together, so their power is easier to sense right now. Actually, they're almost here. Few more seconds, tops."

Vegeta nodded in agreement with his son. Bardock was still getting used to the idea that there was a way to sense the power levels of fighters without a Scouter, but he assumed it was a tactic that this planet had figured out.

Sure enough, mere moments later, a faint, high-pitched sound could be heard in the air, and very quickly, a large group landed on the lawns of Capsule Corp, crashing down a complete stop as their auras around them faded.

Chi-Chi climbed off of Goku's back, while Goten, Gohan, and Videl stood around him, Pan still cradled in Videls arms. Shadow, noticing the arrivals, powered down and dropped to the ground, while Silver opened his eyes and stood up.

Shadow spoke up as soon as he landed. "Please, tell me there's no more crisis right now?" he asked tentatively.

Goku donned a confused look and scratched the back of his head. "No, why would there be?" he asked.

Shadow appeared visibly relieved. "Well, I can never be too sure" he shrugged.

Silver laughed. "No kidding, not around these guys."

Goten, being as nervous as he was, acted very much the same way he did when first meeting Goku, only this time, he ran behind his father rather than his mother, clutching his leg. He had been excited, but he didn't count how scary the moment would be.

Gohan, on the other hand, was eyeing Bardock warily. It didn't take a super genius to figure out, between the two Saiyans, which one was his grandfather. After all, one of them looked just like Vegeta, the other just like Goku. He felt an urge of protectiveness, even though he was fairly certain these two wouldn't cause any trouble, his senses were calling danger to him. His power swelled slightly, beneath the surface, not noticeable to anyone but himself, but enough to be on high alert.

Bardock could sense the nervousness of the group, but it didn't affect him. He cracked a smile. "So, Kakarot, this is your family from Earth?" he asked.

Goku nodded. "Yeah" he said. He took Chi-Chi's hand and brought her forward. "This is my wife, Chi-Chi." He tussled Goten's hair a bit, getting him comfortable enough to come around from behind Goke, however, he did grab his father's other hand. "This little guy is Goten."

Since he no longer had any hands to use, Gohan stepped forward himself. "I'm his other son, Gohan" he introduced himself.

Videl stepped up alongside him. "And I'm Videl, Gohan's wife" she added on. "And this is our child, Pan."

Bardock nodded as they finished. "Well, as I'm sure you know, I'm Bardock" he said. "Kakarot's father. Glad I could meet you all."

Safe to say, the older Saiyan was slightly surprised that he already had two grandchildren, one of which was married and had a child of his own, making him a great grandfather…

Saiyans may be youthful, but that didn't stop it from making him feel incredibly old all of a sudden.

However, this newfound knowledge didn't stop him from noticing something very major to a Saiyan missing from the four of them. In fact, it was something he had noticed with Vegeta the prior night, but hadn't commented on. "Kakarot, where is your tail?" he asked incredulously.

Goku subconsciously looked down around his father's waist, where what appeared to be a furry belt was wrapped around it. Of course, to someone knowledgeable, it was easily recognizable as a Saiyan tail. "Well, it got removed" Goku said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Twice, actually."

"You got your tail removed?!" Bardock exclaimed.

Goku shrugged. "I didn't have the Saiyan training to make it not so painful or to control myself at a full moon" he said. "It was only a weakness and a danger to everyone around me, and while it regrew once, it hasn't since the second time."

"Similarly, mine hasn't grown back, either" Vegeta piped up. "However, mine wasn't such a _planned_ removal" he gave a quick glare to Goku, remembering the pain of Krillin's Destructo Disc cutting his flesh during their very first battle. "However, we've evolved to a point where we no longer need our tails to be powerful. After all, who needs to become a Great Ape when you can become a Super Saiyan?"

"I see…" Bardock said. "And the half-Saiyans…" he gestured to the children and Gohan, "I assume their Saiyan blood was too diluted?"

Gohan shook his head. "Nah, I had one for a while, but got it removed, similar reasons to Dad. The whole Great Ape thing wasn't really something that we wanted to deal with. Pan, however, is only one quarter Saiyan, so she didn't have a tail at all."

"And Mommy says that I had a tail when I was born, but they took it right there so that there weren't problems" Goten said. "I've never seen the giant monkey thing that Saiyans are supposed to do."

Bardock nodded, seeming satisfied with the answers. "I see, it was something unavoidable, I guess, living on the Earth your whole life."

Goku nodded. "Yeah, Raditz was kinda surprised when he came to Earth and saw that I didn't have my tail either" he said. "He kinda mocked me for it, calling me weak and all that. Me and Piccolo stopped him, though."

One of Bardock's eyebrows went up. "Piccolo?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, I guess you don't really know anything about me or my friends here" Goku realized. "Well, you see, Piccolo is a friend of mine. He used to be my enemy, but he changed. He's a Namekian, and one of the strongest people on the planet behind me and Vegeta."

"A Namekian? Here?" Bardock asked.

"Yeah he used to be part of a Namekian called Kami, who was the God here, but they split, then merged together again about twelve years ago, I think" Goku tried to explain.

Bardock massaged his temples. "Ok, now you're losing me" he admitted.

Goku glanced back at his family. "You know, if there's no time problem, we might be able to tell you everything we've done here" he offered. "I'm not sure if you like stories about adventures or anything, but it might help you understand some more things about Earth and us?"

Bardock eyed his son, before cracking a grin. "If it'll help me get to know my son and his family a bit more, then sure. As long as it doesn't take a few weeks to tell the story, sure.I don't need Gine freaking out on me for disappearing too long" he chuckled.

"Who?" Goku asked.

"Hmm?" Bardock responded. "Oh, you probably don't know her yet. Gine, she's my wife, and your mother."

Goku's eyes widened. "What?! My mom's alive too?!" he exclaimed, the rest of his family similarly shocked. Vegeta and Frieza had alluded to Goku's father before, but for some reason, they had never mentioned his mother. And they had never given it much thought either.

Bardock nodded. "Whether he intended to keep things that way or not, Frieza revived every single Saiyan that was on Planet Vegeta the day he destroyed it. Me, the King, your mother, all of them." He sighed. "I just wish that the revival had extended to my old team… Frieza had them murdered right before he went after our planet, but they were off world at the time. I barely squeezed through a loophole in the wish, but they won't."

The mood darkened slightly, but Bardock tried to dispel it, not wanting to make a poor impression. "Anyways, are you going to get started, or should I guess how this all began?"

Goku cracked a nervous grin, and sat down on the lawn. Around him, his family followed suit, and Bardock was sitting before them. Vegeta and his father turned away and wandered back into the main building. Silver began to walk away, but Shadow walked over to Goku. "Before you get caught up with this guy…" he began. "Have you seen any sign of Sonic yet today?"

Goku glanced up at Shadow with a confused expression. "No, I haven't, why?" he asked. "He promised he'd be here, didn't he?"

Shadow nodded. "I've just got a strange feeling" he admitted. "About ten minutes ago, I sensed a flare of Chaos Energy off in the distance, enough to be a Super Transformation. I wondered if you had come across him."

Goku frowned momentarily. "Maybe he was just going Super to fly here?" he asked.

Shadow shook his head. "Moments after, he flew off of my radar, exact opposite direction of here" he said. "It isn't like Sonic to lie to us, and I have no idea where he is for right now. He's too far away." A small breeze kicked up as Shadow's rocket shoes activated, and he levitated into the air. "I was going to fly in his general direction anyways, but I figured I'd give you a try before I flew off."

"Oh, ok" Goku said. "Well, good luck, Shadow."

Shadow smirked. "Who needs luck when you're the Ultimate Life Form?" he said belligerently, before taking off, staying in his base form for the moment, using his rocket shoes to propel him through the sky.

Bardock watched Shadow as he flew off. "Cocky little thing, isn't he?" he asked. "I mean, 'Ultimate Life Form?'"

"Well, he is" Goku pointed out. "That's how he was designed."

"Designed? What?" Bardock asked.

"Heh, that one is a better question for him personally" Goku said. "Maybe you can ask him later."

Bardock huffed. "Oh, alright. But enough with his background, start with yours."

Goku nodded. "Alright then. Well, it all started long ago, when I first came to Earth. A man found me, someone who I knew as Grandpa Gohan..."

* * *

 **?**

* * *

Sonic dipped down and let his feet skim the waves of the blue water as he dashed along at mach speed, lazily moving towards his destination. Normally, water was his greatest fear, but when he was Super, he could finally appreciate the beauty of it.

Didn't mean he wanted to go for a dip, of course.

Propelling himself back into the air he squinted as far ahead as was possible. All around him, there was nothing but empty water, seemingly going on for forever.

"He said that the remains of Prison Island were somewhere out here" he muttered to himself. "I hope he wasn't leading me on a wild goose chase…"

No sooner had the words left his mouth, than something emerged on the horizon. It was still very far away, but Sonic's eyes began to make out a large landmass. And as far as it was, the distance was nothing at the speed Sonic was soaring at.

Putting on the extra power, another ear-shattering ripple rocketed outwards as he picked up speed. Flying high above the water, Sonic looked down at the large island beneath him with wide eyes. He let out a low whistle. "Damn, those three really did a number on this place back then…"

Prison Island had once been the base for G.U.N., a place where Sonic himself had been locked up for a short period. Much of the island had been heavy forests, mountain ranges, and even jungle in some parts. Very little of it had been taken up by the military bases, and even then, much of it was build outwards, over the water, meaning even less of the surface of the island had been taken by all the metal structures. Most of it was natural.

Now, it looked like a complete wasteland. Most of the island was littered with massive craters, courtesy of the explosives that had gone off over the island. Small pockets of the old forest remaining, but most of it was simply blackened, rough landscape. Rubble was strewn about, many pieces large enough to be visible from this height. It was bound to be worse when he descended.

Massive fissures ran the course of the island, allowing the ocean to flow straight through the heart of what once had been Prison Island. Erosion was clearly there, as the land around the fissures appeared quite weak and desolate.

Frowning, Sonic immediately stopped his flight, aimed his feet down, and slowly fell to the surface below. He was right. The lower he got, the worse things looked.

His feet crunched as he touched down. The ashes of the once lush forest sounded with every step he took. In some places, they were piled high. In others, ocean gales had cleared the land completely, only leaving the stoney surface beneath.

As he came across one of the clearings, he let out a breath, and the golden glow surrounding him faded. Looking up and around, Sonic stretched out his arms to the side. The only sounds were the wind blowing and the waves lapping against the shore, some ways away.

He stood there for a few moments, his foot began unconsciously tapping the ground in an impatient manner. "Did I seriously come all the way out here just for him to chicken out?" he muttered beneath his breath. "Come on, I thought that he was supposed to fear no creature, or something like that."

Looking up, he took a deep breath, and shouted upwards. "COME ON, BOLT-BRAIN, GET YOUR RUSTED CAN DOWN HERE!" he shouted as loud as he could, voice carrying across the landscape and even over the water for miles.

He took a deep breath to replenish his lost oxygen, then looked around again. "You know…" he announced clearly to his surroundings, "If you're waiting for me to do something out of boredom, tough luck, you aren't getting anything from me!"

Sonic didn't need to see behind him or be able to sense the Chaos reaction to feel the presence that had just appeared directly behind him. "How smart of you, _Sonic_ " a computerized voice scoffed. "However, we both know that I need no further data from you."

"Really? That makes one of us" Sonic said nonchalantly as he turned on the spot, flashing a cocky grin behind him. "You know, I'm glad I got your message when I did. I needed to let a little steam off, anyways."

The figure before him let out a low chuckle. "You may be different, but your bravado is unwavering."

"For good reason, Metal" Sonic said.

Standing on the wasteland before him, metallic body glinting in the sunlight. Three short spikes shot out of the back the entity's head. A core rimmed in yellow existed in the center of the body. Thin metal limbs sporting metallic blue sheathes formed arms and legs, the arms ending in cruel, sharp talons, while feet similar in appearance to Sonic's own shoes existed down the legs. Glowing red eyes existed within a black visor.

Metal Sonic's face may have been incapable of showing emotion, but there was definitely a battle-lust in the air around them. Metal Sonic had come for a battle, and he was ready.

Sonic realized immediately which model had challenged him. Silver Sonic had long since been destroyed, and more recently, Sonic finally finished off Mecha Sonic, the one that had terrorized Mobius for so long. And while Mecha Sonic, at the time, had become the most powerful, he knew the one before him was the most dangerous.

The original one, the one two have battled him with Eggman hot on their tails, and the one to have turned on his creator during the Egg Fleet attack. The one that had taken the force of the entirety of Teams Sonic, Dark, Rose, and even the Chaotix to defeat, and had sank into the shadows, not to be seen by his master or his rivals for years.

The original Metal Sonic.

Sonic's biggest rival to date save Shadow.

"So, you're finally cashing in that coupon I gave you right after I kicked your can last time?" Sonic asked in a confident tone, running his finger under his nose. "I know you, Metal, why did you do it when you know just how outmatched you are?"

"I am not so weak as you appear to think of me as" Metal Sonic's voice cut through the air harshly. "You of all people, my loathsome copy, should know what this world is capable of, and to that extent, what _I_ am capable of."

Sonic's confidence wavered slightly as he picked up the meaning behind the ultimate robot's words. Metal Sonic wasn't bluffing. Sonic wasn't scared, but he had a reason to be concerned. Eggman had outfitted Metal Sonic with the most powerful scanner he had ever known. Simply catch a life form using a technique once, and Metal Sonic could instantly replicate it.

And if Metal Sonic meant what Sonic thought, there were countless techniques he could have learned since the worlds clashed. Forget copying his Sonic Wind or Sonic Boom attacks. For all he knew, Metal Sonic may have scanned Goku's Kamehameha, or Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon. He could only hope that copying Silver's Psychokinesis wasn't a possibility, that it would be physically impossible, but he wasn't too sure on just how powerful this creation was made to be.

But for all he could copy, he wouldn't be able to put the same power behind them as Goku or the others could, even if he had their moves. Leaning down, he stretched his legs. "Well, you're the one cashing the coupon. Care to set some ground rules?"

If Metal Sonic was physically able to smirk, he would have been. "Leave that blade of yours out of things, and those damn Emeralds, and we'll be fine."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Really? That all? No tying up my left arm, or doing things blindfolded? Are you trying to make this easy?"

"You fail to comprehend me fully" Metal Sonic said viciously.

Raising a metallic hand skyward, the sky began to darken slightly. Mere moments, and the sky had gone from completely clear, to stormy. A heavy wind began blowing, nearly strong enough to push Sonic over. A thin bolt of pure energy, white-hot lightning, came down and struck Metal Sonic, coursing through his thin, metallic fingers and running through his whole body.

Gripping the hand tightly, Metal Sonic lowered. "HuuuAAAAAH!" he roared, the lightning he had absorbed making his body shine a brilliant white, nearly blinding Sonic and forcing him to look away.

A tremor ran through the ground as the light began to die down. Still glowing like a star, Sonic squinted, able to make out the shifting shape where Metal Sonic stood. The spikes on his head elongated, the cover on his arm extended outwards. Spikes jutted out from the machine's shoulders.

The light died down, and now, Metal Sonic stood, transformed. A form Sonic hadn't seen in ages, and a form Metal Sonic hadn't assumed in just as long.

Five spikes jutted out backwards from Metal Sonic's head. Upwards, and up and down on either side, each one adorned with a long, white diamond. A black, sharp shoulder pad extended from each shoulder. The metal cover on each limb had extended, taking on a more gauntlet-like appearance. A large grey spike also shot upwards from each knee.

Sonic knew from Goku that robot's exuded no energy. Goku had never met Metal Sonic.

Sonic dropped down. The heavy gales from the surrounding storm began to be drawn towards him, swirling around him at high speeds, glowing blue. Sonic's entire body took on a lighter tone as the light blue whirlwind wrapped around him. His eyes glinted brighter, and his quills waggled as if they were weightless.

Sonic unleashed his full aerokinetic abilities in a single battle-cry, the winds lashing at the ground and carving into it. Lowering his head, he smirked at the robot. "Did you get a scan of this?" he asked.

"Kinetic powers are beyond my scope of control" Neo-Metal Sonic growled. "But no matter, your Hurricane Form does not contain enough power to overcome me!"

"Hurricane Form?" Sonic chuckled. "As much as I like the ring to that, this is no form. This is all me, baby! No transformation required."

He managed to take a bit of weight off his chest. If Metal Sonic was unable to copy Kinetic abilities, then he at least didn't have to worry about Silver's Psychokinesis being used against him.

He bounced lightly on his feet. "Well, Metal, are you ready for the showdown you've been waiting for?" he asked.

Metal Sonic splayed his palms outwards, an aura of power growing around him. Sonic could sense both Chaos Energy and real power swirling within the robot. "I have been ready for ages" he declared. "Sonic, today is the day that I prove myself superior to you!"

"Now we'll just see about that, won't we?" Sonic challenged, legs pushing him across the clearing at a breakneck pace.

Metal Sonic met his charge head on, dashing forward and clashing heads with Sonic as the two Boosted into each other.

Just as the friction reached its peak, the energy between the two exploded outwards, the ripple of energy flying across the entire island, the force pushing waves hundreds of feet into the air all around them.

"Scared to be in the midst of such an aquatic environment, Sonic?!" Neo-Metal Sonic cackled.

Sonic chuckled and shook his head as the water fell. "Not a chance, Metal" he said. "It's not gonna be that easy to get to me. You think your victory is assured, and I _know_ mine is."

"Well, the let's see who is correct!" Neo-Metal Sonic said, lunging at Sonic once more.

* * *

 **This fight isn't going to be a large one, however, it will be set up for the near future.**

 **Now, be honest. When reading the letter, how many of you knew it was Metal Sonic, right off the bat? If you did, did you guess this exact one? If so, cool.**

 **I tried to work a bit more of a "slice-of-life" element into this chapter over last time. Finally diving into some DBZ Fanfiction myself gave me a new style to try, rather than just go for straight up fights, like most of the story ended up being. Of course we'll still have the fights, but I've got to make an effort for more than that, you know?**

 **Bit of a shorter chapter, the next few probably are gonna be. We're nearing the tournament, which probably won't last very long, but I'm hoping I can make it some good writing.**

 **And, well, not much else to say. Aftermath of the Saiyan attack to be dealt with in the next few chapters, as well as buildup to the tournament. That's all, really.**

 **So, until next time, Sonic the Saiyan, signing off. Cya!**


End file.
